Northern Ireland Legacy Bill: London family of soldier murdered by IRA say government plans will deny them any hope of justice

Private Tony Harrison, 21, was shot in the back five times as he watched television with his fiancee in her east Belfast home in 1991.

Yesterday his family spoke out to express their disgust with government plans to draw a line under such unresolved murders, with the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill.

“Our entire world was shattered,” Private Harrison’s elderly mother, Martha Seaman, told The Daily Telegraph regarding his murder.

After three decades, she and his younger brother Andy Seaman have broken their silence to criticise the Government’s bill

They said they had been made to feel that Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, viewed families like theirs as “collateral damage” and an “inconvenient truth”.

Mr Wallace has previously given his backing to the Bill on the “condition” that “the statute of limitations only applies to those individuals who engage in the process”.

However the Seamans argue that the very notion that the perpetrators will be protected if they “engage in the process” is nothing short of “double standards”.

“This Bill appears to be a poorly conceived, cynical piece of legislation determined solely to sweep the mistakes made by the British military in Northern Ireland under the rug,” Mr Seaman said. “What it’s failing to take into account is the hundreds of families like us, both military and civilian, that will receive very little by way of closure or justice, if this Bill is passed.”

He added that the Bill, which he has said should be scrapped, “seeks to kick any hope we have for justice into the long grass”.

Last week Mr Seaman, together with the family of Majella O’Hare, a 12-year-old girl who was killed by two shots fired from a British soldier as she made her way to church, wrote to the Prime Minister urging him to throw out the Bill.

An NIO spokesman responded: “The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill seeks to ensure that the process for dealing with the past focuses on measures that can deliver positive outcomes for as many people directly affected by the Troubles as possible.

"This Bill will seek to strike the right balance between a clear focus on information recovery, while ensuring that those who choose not to reveal what they know remain indefinitely liable to the threat of prosecution, should evidence exist or come to light.

"We know that the Bill remains challenging for many, and we remain committed to further constructive engagement as the Bill continues its passage through Parliament."

Kenny Donaldson, Director of Services with the South East Fermanagh Foundation said 722 members of the military were murdered in the Troubles with only a small fraction resulting in convictions.

"Private Harrison's family capture the perspective of very many who have been treated shamefully; they laid down their lives in defence of this nation yet in the main they have not received justice nor proper aftercare,” he said.

"To those who peddle the myth that this legacy bill is designed to protect veterans, we ask – how does it protect or advance the needs of the families of these 700 plus murdered soldiers?"