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Massereene Trial: i proiettili utilizzati a Massereene Barracks erano dei Provisional IRA

Massereene soldiers fought to save victim

The mother of one of two soldiers gunned down outside Massereene barracks in Antrim has heard how her son’s colleagues fought desperately – alongside paramedics – to save him.

Massereene Barracks, AntrimMark Quinsey was rushed to hospital from the scene of the Real IRA ambush, with a soldier trying to stem the flow of blood from his neck while the ambulance crew worked on him.

Their Royal Engineers comrade Patrick Azimkar was already dead, while Sapper Quinsey was to later die in hospital.

Two men – Colin Duffy and Brian Shivers – stand accused of their murders.

The third day of their trial at Antrim Crown Court also heard details of the frantic 999 call made by a soldier from the base seconds after the attack in March 2009.

In a statement, the woman who took that call said the soldier was shouting down the phone at her, that there was a shooting and that he was bleeding from the arm.

He hung up before she could get any more details. When she rang back, he didn’t answer.

First to take the witness stand on Wednesday though was a civilian security officer.

David Sloan described how he heard what he at first mistook for fireworks, then saw a soldier dive for cover.

He drew his gun and went out of the guard room to investigate, spotting a civilian lying on the ground and another casualty. He also saw the gunmen’s getaway car.

Asked if the scene had been pandemonium, he simply replied: “It was.”

The trial also heard more about the guns used in the attack and a firearms expert told the court that one of them had been used in previous attacks on police stations in Randalstown and Londonderry five years before the Massereene murders.

The expert added that the 60 bullets fired at the soldiers were similar to those used in IRA shootings before its ceasefire and that they had come from the former Yugoslavia, with a stamp date of 1982.

The trial has been adjourned until Monday, when the firearms expert will resume giving his evidence.

Duffy, aged 43 and from Forest Glade in Lurgan, and 46-year-old Shivers, from Sperrin Mews in Magherafelt, deny the murder charges and six further counts of attempted murder.

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René Querin

Di professione grafico e web designer, sono appassionato di trekking e innamorato dell'Irlanda e della sua storia. Insieme ad Andrea Varacalli ho creato e gestisco Les Enfants Terribles.

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