Ciarán Shiels & Colum Eastwood speak to Inside The Courtroom NI
LAW FIRM BEHIND BLOODY SUNDAY FAMILIES "MADE NOT A PENNY" AS GOVERNMENT SPENT IN EXCESS OF £4M ON SOLDIER F DEFENCE
Amid reports the Government shelled out more than £4 million in legal fees in the trial of Soldier F, the Parachute Regiment soldier acquitted of murder and attempted murder on Bloody Sunday, it has been emphasised that lawyers for the families and the wounded have been working on a pro bono basis.
Prominent law firm Madden & Finucane acted on behalf of the victims and the relatives of those shot by the Paras on Bloody Sunday, and they have come in for heavy criticism online, with many querying how much they added to the huge bill in the prosecution of Soldier F.
"The answer is Madden & Finucane made not a penny out of this Soldier F trial," says director Ciaran Shiels, "all of the work over the last 15 years, from 2010 until now, was unpaid and taken on pro bono as the case progressed from charging, the various applications which were heard and up to and including the trial and verdict.
"Two of the three judicial review challenges in which Madden & Finucane represented the families as the Applicant, were also taken on a pro bono basis and the families themselves bore the risk of costs being found against them," says Mr Shiels.
In contrast, and while the defendant would likely have been granted legal aid to fight his case, the Ministry of Defence opted to foot the legal bill for Soldier F.
On 30 January 1972, at a civil rights demonstration in the Bogside area of Derry, soldiers from the Parachute Regiment opened fire on unarmed civilians, killing 13 people and wounding 15 more.
Soldier F had faced charges of murdering James Wray, 22, and William McKinney, 26, as well as five charges of attempted murder.
In delivering his verdict having sat as a Diplock, non-jury judge, His Honour Judge Patrick Lynch KC said it was clear that members of the Parachute Regiment had shot unarmed civilians as they ran away.
The judge told Belfast Crown Court the paratroopers, had "lost all sense of military discipline" and that "those responsible should hang their heads in shame."
Judge Lynch added however, that his decision on the guilt or innocence of the former Lance Corporal was not dependent on "collective guilt" but rather individual guilt.
To that end, the main evidence against Soldier F came from two fellow paratroopers, Soldiers G and H, who had been "serially untruthful," Judge Lynch told the court and the packed public gallery.
In recording not guilty verdicts on each count, the judge said: "Their statements, the sole and decisive evidence, cannot be tested in a way that witnesses giving evidence from the witness box would be."
"Delay has, in my view, seriously hampered the capacity of the defence to test the veracity and accuracy of the hearsay statements."
In any normal case, a defendant going thorough the legal process of police investigation, charging and then ultimately to trial, would have one solicitor, from a single law firm, a junior counsel for the Crown Court and, depending in the seriousness and complexity of the case, potentially a senior barrister, or King's Counsel.
In a unique and unheard of move, Soldier F had two solicitors when he was being questioned by police and then, as the case progressed through the court, he had two law firms, two junior counsel and two senior KCs, leading to double the bill.
The two law firms, London-based law firm Wilmer Hale Solicitors and the Belfast firm of McCartan Turkington & Breen, have each been asked for their comment on the story.
Their mammoth defence bill, and one which is likely to rise, emerged following a question in Parliament by Foyle MP Colum Eastwood.
Describing the bill as "sickening," Mr Eastwood highlighted that Soldier F was prosecuted by one branch of the Government and was defended by another Government branch, yet the grieving families of those gunned down on Bloody Sunday had to rely on the generosity of a law firm.
It has also emerged, since the trial concluded in acquittals, that the families who travelled up and down from Derry/Londonderry each day were supported and had lunches prepared by a local group in the nearby Markets area of Belfast.
Mr Shiels said: "The Bloody Sunday victims and their supporters are extremely grateful for the hospitality and kindness shown to them, by the many victim's groups in Belfast who attended to support them, but in particular, they thank the people of the Markets area."
Copy by Paul Higgins
Inside The Courtroom NI
Factual, impartial and committed to open justice.
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