Clonoe ambush: 'Courts went soft on getaway accomplices' says TUV MP Jim Allister

Jim Allister MP made the remark in reference to three men who had also been present on the night of the ambush in 1992.

Four men died the night the SAS ambushed an IRA unit in the east Tyrone village, after they had mounted an attack on Coalisland police station.

Three accomplices of the IRA team were arrested either at the scene or afterwards.

They were all convicted of assisting offenders, and got suspended sentences – and one was later awarded tens of thousands of pounds for injuries he sustained that night.

"I think it's far too inadequate for the circumstances," said Mr Allister of the sentences.

"They were there obviously with knowledge to assist in the getaway... they were an integral part of the terrorist attack, and to give them a suspended sentence I think is wholly inadequate.

"I think this was our courts being soft... it's totally out-of-kilter with the gravity of the offending."

The broad timeline of the evening's events was as follows:

By 7.40pm, a dozen soldiers were in place around the car park of Clonoe chapel, watching out for the IRA team as per intelligence they had been given.

At 9pm the IRA team began its operation; four gunmen burst into a house in Coalisland and hijacked a lorry.

At 10.40pm the IRA unit drove the lorry with a heavy machine gun mounted on it to Coalisland police station and opened fire, before driving off towards Clonoe about 1.6 miles away.

Shortly before 11pm, the SAS opened fire on the IRA team who had arrived – armed with assault rifles – in the car park of Clonoe chapel, killing them all.

There were three other vehicles at the scene, all of them Vauxhall Cavaliers.

Next to the driver's door of one of them, a man called Aidan Patrick McKeever, lay wounded. He was given first aid and sent to the hospital.

He initially claimed to have been in the churchyard simply to visit his father's grave, but later admitted to being a getaway driver for the IRA crew.

Another Cavalier made off and crashed about a mile from the chapel. It belonged to a Martin Francis Woods, who had been wounded in the arm by a bullet. He admitted to being a getaway driver too.

The third Cavalier was found burnt out at a Coalisland GAA club. It is unclear if anyone was ever prosecuted in relation to that vehicle.

Meanwhile police arrested another man, Kevin Martin Coney.

He admitted "that he knew of the attack at Coalisland RUC station and his role was to go to the chapel car park in the aftermath", according to the inquest findings.

However, before the ambush unfolded, he "left the scene in his car and went for a drink in the pub".

Coney, Woods, and McKeever were originally each charged with attempted murder and possession of firearms with intent to endanger life.

But in the end all three pleaded guilty to assisting offenders and were sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, suspended for three years.

They were all listed by the coroner as "civilians".

McKeever, in about 2011, sought compensation for “assault, battery and trespass to the person” in relation to being shot that night as he waited to convey the IRA team away.

He was awarded £75,000 in damages by a court.

Meanwhile, Mr Allister has now lodged an application to debate the following motion in the House of Commons: “That this House notes the coroner’s ruling in the case involving the death of four fully armed IRA terrorists who had launched a murderous attack on a police station;

"Thanks the SAS for their courageous service in tackling terrorism in Northern Ireland;

"Further notes the utilisation of the coronial service and lawfare to vilify the security forces;

"And calls on the government to stand up for those who risked their lives to defeat terrorism.”