Coroner Says SAS ‘Justified’ in Using Lethal Force Against IRA Gang

A coroner has ruled SAS soldiers were “justified” in the use of “lethal force” when they killed three Provisional IRA men in an SAS ambush during The Troubles in Northern Ireland. But the coroner, Mr. Justice Michael Humphreys, heavily criticised the soldiers for destroying a video of the ambush and said senior British Army officers had taken steps to “excuse, justify, and support this reprehensible conduct.” On June 3, 1991, Michael “Pete” Ryan, 37, Lawrence McNally, 39, and Tony Doris, 21, were gunned down in the village of Coagh in County Tyrone by a Special Military Unit comprising of SAS soldiers, which had set an ambush....