Veterans group slams suspended jail term for 1988 killing of man

‘Extremely harsh and a disgrace’: Veterans group slams three-year suspended jail term for 1988 killing of man who soldier thought was IRA member in Northern Ireland Troubles as victim’s family insist sentence should have been tougher

• A former soldier was handed a suspended jail sentence for manslaughter
• David Jonathan Holden shot Aidan McAnespie in Northern Ireland in 1988
• Campaigners have claimed the sentence was ‘extremely harsh and a disgrace’  

A veterans group has slammed the three-year suspended jail sentence for the 1988 killing of a man the soldier thought was an IRA member in the Northern Ireland Troubles – calling the punishment ‘extremely harsh and a disgrace’. 

David Jonathan Holden, 53, who was serving with the Grenadier Guards at the time, received a three-year-sentence at Belfast Crown Court. 

He was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence over the 1988 death of Aiden McAnespie, 23, who was shot in the back at an army checkpoint in Northern Ireland in 1988.

The McAnespie family said they were disappointed at the sentence and thought it should have been tougher, but stressed they did not want a ‘pound of flesh’.  

But despite Mr Holden not being sent to prison, campaigners still claimed his sentencing was ‘extremely harsh’.

David Jonathan Holden (pictured in November) was convicted of the manslaughter of Aidan McAnespie in February 1988

Aidan McAnespie was shot close to a checkpoint in Co Tyrone in 1988 (McAnespie family/PA)

Paul Young, from the Northern Ireland Veterans Movement said: ‘The terrorists will never serve more than two years if they are convicted of any legacy offence, so it is extremely harsh and a disgrace.

‘This case should never have happened given the passage of time and what Mr Holden has been through.

‘There is clearly a disparity between the terrorists and the security forces that served in Northern Ireland.’   

Holden was convicted of the killing in November.   

He was the first veteran to be found guilty of a historical offence in Northern Ireland since the Good Friday Agreement.

Mr McAnespie, was killed in Aughnacloy, Co Tyrone, moments after walking through a border security checkpoint.

He was on his way to a local Gaelic Athletic Association club when he was shot in the back.

McAnespie was on his way to a local Gaelic Athletic Association club when he was shot in the back in Aughnacloy, County Tyrone (pictured)

Family members of Aidan McAnespie and their supporters arrive at Laganside Courts in Belfast ahead of the guilty verdict in November

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

But 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.

READ MORE: British soldier who shot and killed man, 23, during Northern Ireland Troubles ‘was a scared young man’ who told police he fired by accident, trial hears

In court today, the judge highlighted five points about the case – Holden was 18 when the killing occurred, he had been convicted of manslaughter and did not intend to kill, he was grossly negligent in wrongly assuming the gun was not cocked, the fact that the gun was cocked and ready to fire was the fault of others and he could not know from looking at the gun if it was cocked.

Justice O’Hara said: ‘In his evidence during the trial, the defendant did not take the opportunity to express remorse. He could have done so, even in the context contesting the case.

‘That would have been helpful.’

The judge added: ‘The defendant gave a dishonest explanation to the police and then to the court, to some limited degree that is an aggravating feature.’

The judge drew attention to victim impact statements given by Mr McAnespie’s family to the court.

He said: ‘Aidan was the youngest of the six McAnespie children.

‘The statements described the devastating impact the killings had on the whole extended family, how it changed their lives and how hugely challenging it has been over decades.

‘I have no doubt this was made worse by the family’s sense of injustice that Mr Holden was not brought to trial at the time.

‘This is something the family shares with far too many other families in our society who have not seen anyone held to account for all manner of killings, bombings and shootings.

‘Included in the statements is a haunting description of Mrs McAnespie walking from her home every night past the Army checkpoint to the point where her son was killed in tears saying the rosary.’

He said: ‘When I consider the sentence I bear in mind everything which is put before me by counsel and the McAnespie family.’

In a statement by Holden read out during the trial, the former soldier described the incident in 1988 including the claim that he had accidentally set the gun off.

He also said he believed Mr McAnespie was a suspected member of the IRA.

‘I knew McAnespie as a ‘tax rep’, which to me means that he is a suspected member of the IRA.’

Under the provisions of the Good Friday agreement, Holden could only have served a maximum sentence of two years in prison.

Members of Mr McAnespie’s family were in court for the sentencing hearing.

A representative of a veterans’ organisation described the sentence handed down to Holden as ‘extremely harsh’.

Paul Young, from the Northern Ireland Veterans Movement, which campaigns against the prosecution of soldiers who served in the region, said: ‘We believe that the sentence today was extremely harsh, considering the passage of time and what David Holden has had to go through over the last number of years.

‘When you compare this to the Good Friday Agreement and the deals that were struck about terrorists, that they would never serve more than two years if they were convicted of any legacy offence.

‘Now we have David Holden convicted for a manslaughter through gross negligence so there is clearly a disparity between terrorists and the security forces that served in Northern Ireland.

‘It is a disgrace and should never have happened.’

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