Baton guns weren't perfect, but they were all we had and they saved many lives: former soldier

In a BBC NI Spotlight programme, being broadcast on Tuesday night, some of the families bereaved through rubber and plastic bullets express their shock that the baton gun – first issued to the RUC around 1980 – had never been fully medically tested for its potential risks to civilians.

Based on files retrieved from the UK National Archives by the Pat Finucane Centre, the documentary also reveals that Army bosses were aware that the bullets should not be fired at children but the practice continued.

One of the cases highlighted is that of 15-year-old Paul Whitters, who was hit by a plastic bullet fired by an RUC officer while he was throwing stones in Londonderry in 1981.

Paul's mother Helen Whitters told the programme: "This did not sit well with me because that's not who Paul was. We weren't political, let's put it like that. I had to face the fact he had a mask on and I still find that hard."

In 2007 the Police Ombudsman determined there was no justification for police firing the projectile at the teenager.

Speaking on behalf of another family bereaved as a result of plastic bullet use, solicitor Padraig O'Muirigh claims, "there is clear evidence of a cover up" over their use.

However, Paul Young of the Northern Ireland Veterans Movement, who served in both the Army and RUC/PSNI, said the security forces were not helped by parents who allowed their children to remain on the streets during riot situations.

"I wouldn’t have let my child anywhere near it,” he said.

Commenting specifically on the weapon, he said: “It’s the best we had at that time and, imperfect though it may have been, it did work. It kept lots of people alive.

"So I have no problem with using it, even with hindsight.”

Also speaking on camera, former Army colonel Richard Kemp described the plastic bullet as “a life-saver,” and added: “Not just a life-saver for the soldiers whose lives were at risk, but also a life-saver for people involved in the riots”.

Responding to the documentary, a former baton gunner with RUC Mobile Support Units said a number of key issues were not addressed in the documentary, including the fact that the weapons were frequently deployed to deter those throwing potentially lethal petrol bombs – not just stone throwers as repeatedly mentioned.

He said it should also be pointed out that because a plastic bullet travels much slower than a live round "the person being fired at sometimes would see the muzzle flash and have ducked their head down to waist height by the time the baton round reaches them, and that led to people being hit on the head”.

He added: "They were designed to have the same impact as being hit by a baton. You can't say we were recklessly firing 'lethal' weapons indiscriminately, more than 100,000 times over a 50-year period, and then point to a death toll of 16 people.

The former officer, who did not wish to be named, added: "I can remember hitting rioters square on the thigh and then having to pull them off the bonnet of a Land Rovers ten minutes later. I don’t know how many people died after being hit by batons but I imagine the fatality rate would be similar to baton rounds. All those deaths were tragedies and all totally unnecessary.

"And it's worth noting that almost half of all those fatalities occurred in 1981 when rioters were strategically, brought out onto the streets in support of the Maze hunger strikers. Who is being asked to answer for that?"

Lethal: The Secret History of Plastic Bullets is available on BBC iPlayer, and is being broadcast on Tuesday at 10.40pm.

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