High Court rules that lethal force used by SAS soldiers who killed four IRA men was not justified

Four Provisional IRA members, Kevin Barry O'Donnell, Sean O'Farrell, Peter Clancy, and Daniel Vincent were shot and killed in Clonoe, County Tyrone in February 1992.

The IRA men had carried out a gun attack on the Coalisland Royal Ulster Constabulary station, reports BBC News.

Moments later, as they arrived at St Patrick's Church in a stolen lorry, the SAS soldiers who were waiting for them, opened fire without warning, firing more than 500 rounds.

The soldiers said that they used lethal force to protect their own lives, however Mr Justice Michael Humphreys found the use of lethal force cannot have been reasonable.

Mr Justice Humphreys said that the Specialist Military Unit soldiers who shot them didn't have an honest belief in the necessity of using lethal force.

He concluded that it was unjustified and not reasonable.

Mr Justice Humphreys said that reports created by the police in the aftermath of the killings referred to gunshots being fired and a firefight.

He said that these were untrue.

He said: "The reasons for putting forward such false justifications for the actions of the soldiers are obvious."