Campaigners identify suspects in the Three Scottish Soldiers ‘Honey Trap murders’ by IRA

The three young soldiers were Dougald McCaughey, 23, John McCaig, 17, and Joseph McCaig, 18, from the Royal High land Fusiliers. They were enjoying drinks in a Belfast bar while off duty on March 10, 1971 when IRA men lured them to their deaths on the pretext of meeting girls at a party.

Their bodies were found in north Belfast in what was dubbed ‘the honey trap murders’. They were the first off-duty soldiers to be murdered during the Troubles.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Belfast to express shock and solidarity, with internment being launched only five months later, in part as a result of the public revulsion at the IRA murders.

In 2016 the London legal firm which successfully brought a civil action which saw four men found liable for the 1998 Omagh bomb launched a fund-raising appeal for to fight for justice for the soldiers.

Three Scottish Soldiers campaign director Kris McGurk said: “We have now completed our background work and have submitted a file on the murders to the Attorney General of Northern Ireland for a fresh legacy inquest.

“Both the McCaughey and McCaig families are pleased with the progress that we have made and have given us their blessing to proceed.”

He said there were three key suspects and that two of them were deceased but that the third was still alive, having gone on the run immediately after the murders.

He believes the suspect did not benefit from a so called On-The-Run letter from government because he was expelled from the IRA immediately after the murders.

Following formal requests to the PSNI and the Metropolitan Police Service, the families’ legal team were allowed to inspect the investigation files. They also carried out their own independent enquiries.

What they discovered is that the existing PSNI report did not tell the families everything and that, despite knowing the names of a number of suspects, the authorities have never brought them to justice. Instead, at least one surviving suspect has been been allowed to live freely in the Republic of Ireland.

To find out who was responsible for the murders and to hold them to account they are now pressing for an inquest in Belfast.

In 2017 the families of the three soldiers issued an emotional thanks to News Letter readers on the 46th anniversary of their murders.

Promoted by the News Letter, our readers played a major role in raising almost £15,000 to fund the legal campaign.

On the anniversary of the murders in 2017, Mr McGurk told the News Letter that the families passed on “their sincere thanks to the News Letter and its readers, which they said have been a shining example of how people should support one another.

“For them, the publicity and financial support you have given them has been simply phenomenal. They have been humbled and overwhelmed by the support.”

The funds raised at that time allowed one of the lawyers behind the case, Omagh bomb civil action lawyer Matt Jury, to assess the best legal option to proceed with, whether a public inquiry or private civil or criminal action.

In 2018 the News Letter also successfully secured a formal apology from Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who wrote letters of apology to the families for the actions of her SNP colleague MSP John Mason. Asked to support their campaign, he declined, instead describing the IRA as “Irish freedom fighters”. He later apologised after prolonged scrutiny by the News Letter.

The families are once again raising funds to progress their fight for justice. Anyone wishing to support them can donate at;- https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/3soldiers/

• Alternatively, anyone wishing to support can send cheques payable to ‘The Three Scottish Soldiers Fund’ to c/o McCue & Partners LLP, 84 Brook Street, London, W1K 5EH

www.threescottishsoldiers.org

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