One IRA bomb, two dead toddlers, two dead adults, one wrecked crime lab, and 50 years of justice denied

On the day Colin Nicholl was murdered, he was with a friend and neighbour, Ellen Munn and her two-year-old daughter, Tracey Jane.

Colin and Tracey were in the pram together being pushed past the Balmoral Showrooms when a no warning bomb exploded killing both young children and seriously injuring Ellen.

Two adults died too, Harold King and Hugh Bruce. Thirteen others were injured. It was a busy Saturday morning in December.

Colin’s mum Anne, had gone to Sunderland in England, to support her sister whose six-year-old son had been killed in a road traffic accident a few days before.

Jackie was a keen footballer, and had a match that day in Dunmurry.

The Balmoral Showrooms was located at the junction of Shankill Road and Carlow Street; it had been previously known as the West End Cinema until Moffett and Sons had the building converted into a furniture store.

The Nicholls’ neighbour, herself seriously injured in the bomb, recounted in a witness deposition: “At about 1pm on 11/12/71, I was on the Shankill Road with Tracey Jane and another child, Colin Nicholl, belonging to a friend.

“I got some vegetables in Moore’s shop and then started to walk down towards Peter’s Hill. Both children were sitting in the pram.

“I remember walking past the door of the Balmoral Furniture Showrooms, but the next thing I remember is an ambulance man putting a mask over my face.

“I remember some men lifting bricks off me and then I was placed in an ambulance.”

A Detective Inspector by the name of Wilson stated in his deposition: “I was on duty on the Shankill Road when I heard a loud explosion at about 12.30pm. I saw that [it] had occurred at premises of Balmoral Furnishing Company at 106 Shankill Road, and the whole front of the building had been devastated.”

Jackie himself stated later: “After the match, we had heard of a bombing on the Shankill and passed where it had gone off, but I didn’t know Colin had been killed.

“At about 5.30pm I got to my mother’s house in Alloa Street in north Belfast. It was packed, with many of my family there: two of my sisters and one of my brothers.

“I said: ‘Who is the party for?’ But they were all in a bad way. My brother-in-law Tom said: ‘We have got bad news – Colin was killed’.”

The then Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Brian Faulkner gave the following statement to the News Letter following the murders: “On my return home after spending a few quiet hours of relaxation in the country with my family I learned of this terrible outrage which has claimed four lives – including two babies in arms.

“To those who have been bereaved and to those who have been injured, I would extend on behalf of the Government and the people of Northern Ireland our deepest sympathy.

“During a visit to the Shankill area this week I praised its people for their remarkable restraint during the present terrorist campaign in the face of deliberate provocation.

“This latest tragedy must shock and outrage the people of the area as I know it does any sane, decent person in the country at large.”

An HET later found that an investigation commenced into those people the police believed to have likely been involved – though none of the papers available

gave any indication as to who these suspects were.

They also found that forensic files had not been traced, nor were any items available at the Forensic Service Northern Ireland for re-examination.

The HET explained that a substantial number of forensic evidence exhibits from cases in the early years of the Troubles were lost.

The forensic science laboratory was on the Newtownbreda Road, Belfast, and the Provisional IRA detonated a 3,000lb bomb on September 19, 1992 causing massive damage both to the lab and a nearby housing estate.

The lab was a key target as it analysed evidence relating to terrorist cases.

Up to this day, no one has ever been charged with any offence in connection with Colin’s murder.

Speaking in 2019, Jackie had said: “He’d have been almost 50 now. There’s a void – he should have been here to look after us.”

Jackie kept Colin’s favourite toy, a wooden rattle, saying: “Margaret next door gave it to him and it was with him all the time. You can see his wee teeth marks on it.

“I have it by my bedside, and it’s going to go into my coffin.”

– Ulster Human Rights Watch’s Advocacy Service was set up in 2013 to “support families across Northern Ireland who have been bereaved or have had members physically and/or mentally injured as a result of terrorism”. It is based in Lurgan and its website is www.uhrw.org uk