A long road to justice for two murdered Irish soldiers
Updated / Tuesday, 13 Apr 2021
20:57
On 18 April 1980, three army privates were stopped by a militia known as the De Facto Force
Security Correspondent, Prime Time
John O Mahony spent 40 years waiting to see the man who shot him and murdered his colleagues brought to justice.
In December, a seven-judge military court in Lebanon found 76-year-old Mahmoud Bazzi guilty of the murders of Privates Thomas Barrett and Derek Smallhorne.
The verdict came five years after John stood in front of those judges to recount the events of 18 April 1980. That is the man who shot me, John told the court, pointing directly at Mr Bazzi.
Two Irish soldiers who were murdered while serving in Lebanon have ‘finally got justice after 40 years’
Ann Mooney
23 Dec 2020, 7:00
THE families of two Irish soldiers, who were murdered while serving in the Lebanon yesterday said they’ve finally got justice after 40 years.
Privates Thomas Barrett, 29, from Macroom, Co Cork, and Derek Smallhorne, 31, from Bluebell, Dublin, were abducted and killed while on United Nations Peacekeeping duties in April 1980.
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Private Thomas Barrett, 29Credit: check copyright
They were captured by the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army in a car and their bodies were found hours later.
Both had been shot dead at point blank range.