Aidan McAnespie case: ex-soldier David Holden to be sentenced today (Thursday)

​Mr McAnespie, 23, was struck in the back by a bullet that ricocheted off the road as he walked through a permanent border checkpoint.

David Holden, 53, was initially told that he would not face a criminal prosecution, however, in January 2018, the PPS informed Mr Holden that a decision had been taken to put him on trial for manslaughter.

Holden had admitted firing the shot which killed Mr McAnespie but had said he had fired the weapon by accident because his hands were wet.

But, in November last year, trial judge Mr Justice O’Hara said he was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Holden was guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence.

He found that Holden had pointed a machine gun at McAnespie and pulled the trigger, while assuming the gun was not cocked.

He said: “That assumption should not have been made.”

He also said the former soldier had given a “deliberately false account” of what happened.

The judge went on to say: “The question for me is this – just how culpable is the defendant in the circumstances of this case?

“In my judgment he is beyond any reasonable doubt criminally culpable.”

Military veterans are expected to protest against the prosecution outside the court complex.