Loyalists, republicans or the British army could have been in possession of ammunition possibly fired at the scene of the Ballymurphy massacre, ballistics experts have agreed.
Paramilitary groups were able to obtain military-grade bullets at the time of the fatal shooting of 10 people in west Belfast in August 1971, a witness told the coroner’s court in Belfast.
Anne Polland, of Forensic Science Northern Ireland (FSNI), said she received the information from police intelligence. She read out a report agreed by specialists for the coroner, Ministry of Defence and victims’ families after examining injuries caused to the victims.
“It was military-produced ammunition,” she said. “Paramilitary groups at that time were able by whatever means to get their hands on weapons and ammunition which was military-sourced.
“There is a possibility that they may also have had some of this type of ammunition in their possession.”
Veracity
Ms Polland said she had sought and received the information from police intelligence and had not checked its veracity.
“We just wanted to cover all options as to why these guns may have been in Northern Ireland at the time,” she said.
Claims that loyalists may have been involved in the killings have been questioned during earlier hearings of the inquest.
Ms Polland was asked by barrister for one of the deceased, Fiona Doherty, as to why she had sought the information.
She replied that it “was not information that we had to hand but we were aware that police intelligence would have this information”.
The victims were unlikely to have been shot from close range, her evidence given to the inquest showed.
The hearing at Belfast Coroner’s Court is examining the deaths of 10 civilians, including a mother of eight, across three days in August 1971 which became known as the Ballymurphy Massacre.
Rioting had been ongoing since early on August 9th, after the British army moved into republican areas across Northern Ireland to arrest IRA suspects after the introduction by the Stormont administration of the controversial policy of internment without trial. - PA