A farmer killed by the Army in 1974 was an innocent man, shot in cold blood, without warning when he was no threat to anyone , a coroner has said.
Patrick McElhone (24) a farmer from Pomeroy in Co Tyrone, was shot in the back by Lance Corporal Roy Alun Jones of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Wales, in a field close to his family home.
Mr McElhone died instantly after the bullet penetrated his heart on August 7, 1974.
Mr Jones, who passed away in 2002, was charged with murder but acquitted and returned to duty.
The Ministry of Defence has since accepted Mr McElhone s death was unjustified.
Coroner – Man shot in back by soldiers in ‘unjustified’ killing
Updated: January 21, 2021, 1:05 pm
Paddy McElhone, 24, died near his home in Limehill, Pomeroy, Co. Tyrone after sustaining a fatal gunshot wound in an incident involving a military patrol (Niall Carson/PA).
The shooting dead of a farmer by the Army in Northern Ireland in 1974 was “unjustified”, a coroner said.
Paddy McElhone, 24, died near his home in Limehill, Pomeroy, Co Tyrone after sustaining a wound through the back fired by a soldier from the First Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Wales.
The inquest into Mr McElhone’s death was the first in a series of coroners’ probes into deaths associated with Northern Ireland’s 30-year conflict.
Farmer shot dead by soldier in Northern Ireland in 1974 has been exonerated, family says
Paddy McElhone, 24, died instantly near his home in Pomeroy, Co Tyrone, in 1974. By Press Association Thursday 21 Jan 2021, 2:15 PM Jan 21st 2021, 2:15 PM 21,025 Views 14 Comments
A photograph of the late Paddy McElhone
Image: Brian Lawless via PA Images
A photograph of the late Paddy McElhone
Image: Brian Lawless via PA Images
A FARMER SHOT dead in cold blood by the Army during the Northern Ireland conflict has been exonerated, his family said.
Paddy McElhone, 24, died instantly near his home in Pomeroy, Co Tyrone, in 1974 after he was fired on by a soldier from the First Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Wales.
The shooting dead of a farmer by the Army in Northern Ireland in 1974 was “unjustified”, a coroner said.
Paddy McElhone, 24, died near his home in Limehill, Pomeroy, Co Tyrone after sustaining a wound through the back fired by a soldier from the First Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Wales.
The inquest into Mr McElhone’s death was the first in a series of coroners’ probes into deaths associated with Northern Ireland’s 30-year conflict.
It was held in Omagh courthouse in Co Tyrone.
Presiding coroner Judge Siobhan Keegan said: “On any version of events the shooting was unjustified.”
She added: “Paddy McElhone was an innocent man shot in cold blood without warning when he was no threat to anyone.”