M4 and The Coroner's Service of Northern Ireland
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Keegan LCJ |
| Judgment Date | 02 February 2022 |
| Neutral Citation | [2022] NICA 6 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Northern Ireland) |
| Date | 02 February 2022 |
1
Neutral Citation No: [2022] NICA 6
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down
(subject to editorial corrections)*
Ref: KEE11735
ICOS No: 21/039161/01
Delivered: 02/02/2022
IN HER MAJESTY’S COURT OF APPEAL IN NORTHERN IRELAND
___________
ON APPEAL FROM THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
QUEEN’S BENCH DIVISION
___________
IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION BY M4
TO SET ASIDE A SUBPOENA
___________
M4
Appellant
and
THE CORONER’S SERVICE OF NORTHERN IRELAND
Respondent
___________
Mr Mark Mulholland QC with Mr Michael Egan BL (instructed by MTB Solicitors) for
the Appellant
Mr Henry (instructed by Coroner’s Service) for the Respondent
___________
Before: Keegan LCJ, Maguire LJ and Horner J
___________
KEEGAN LCJ (delivering the judgment of the court)
Introduction and anonymity
[1] This is an appeal from a decision of McAlinden J (“the learned trial judge”) of
20 October 2021 wherein he refused to set aside a subpoena ad testificandum issued
by the High Court on 23 September 2021 pursuant to section 67(1) of the Judicature
(Northern Ireland) Act 1978. The application for the subpoena arose in the context of
an ongoing inquest into the death of Mr Thomas Mills in 1972 and was made by the
coroner conducting the inquest, Mr Joseph McCrisken (“the coroner”).
2
[2] The inquest is paused pending this application. We were told that the
evidence has been substantially completed save that the coroner wished to hear from
M4 who he considered to be a witness of relevance. M4 has been afforded
anonymity at the inquest. We have maintained that anonymity in these proceedings.
Factual Background
[3] Mr Mills died on 18 July 1972 as a result of gunshot wounds he suffered when
shot shortly after 9pm in or around Finlay’s Factory where he worked as a
watchman. It appears from the pathology evidence currently available to the inquest
that Mr Mills was struck by a single round which travelled through his left arm,
through his chest and exited on his right side. The factory was in the Ballymurphy
area, near Vere Foster School and Henry Taggart Memorial Hall which were both
used as army bases at the time. Some publications attributed his death to an IRA
gunman, but one of the issues the inquest will examine is who fired the fatal shot or
shots. One of the items provided to the coroner for the purposes of the inquest is a
statement from a soldier who was on sentry duty in a Sanger on the roof of
Vere Foster School on the evening Mr Mills was shot and killed. The statement
describes the author firing several shots at a gunman in the grounds of Finlay’s
factory in and around the same time Mr Mills was shot. It describes at least one of
the rounds striking the gunman, causing him to spin around and fall to the ground.
It describes the gunman attempting to roll away, but states that the soldier fired
further rounds and he stopped moving.
[4] Statements from civilian witnesses described Mr Mills being shot in the
grounds of the factory during the course of his work duties, falling to the ground,
and attempting to roll while on the ground, but stopping when further shots were
fired. The soldier’s statement and a number of other statements describe how an
army ambulance attended the grounds of the factory. The statements from the army
medical personnel describe how the individual they recovered appeared dead on
arrival. It is plain from the various statements provided by various witnesses that it
was Mr Mills they recovered from the factory grounds. He was the only individual
recovered in an ambulance from that location at the time. A Royal Military Police
Report from 1972 appears to name a particular soldier as being responsible for firing
the shot or shots that killed Mr Mills. A redacted and cyphered copy of this was
made available to the coroner. That former soldier has been given the provisional
cypher M4 for the purposes of the inquest.
[5] An affidavit of 23 September 2021 sworn by Ms Catherine Devlin, solicitor, of
the Coroner’s Service explains why the coroner requested the attendance of M4 at
the inquest. This flows from the factual circumstances we have summarised in the
preceding paragraphs. From this affidavit we also distil the following salient
matters. The coroner afforded M4 Properly Interested Person (“PIP”) status at the
inquest and so he had his own legal representation. It appears that following the
coroner expressing a preliminary view as to the potential involvement of M4 in
events that M4, through his lawyers, confirmed that his instructions were that he
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3 cases
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Liam Friel's Application and in the Matter of an Inquest in to the death of Thomas Friel
...The privilege against self-incrimination was recently considered by the Court of Appeal in M4 v The Coroners’ Service of Northern Ireland [2022] NICA 6 at paras [26] to [28]. Application of the privilege against self-incrimination to the present inquest [125] Soldier B gave his evidence rem......
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Burns (Patricia) Application for leave to apply for Judicial Review
...a violent death and is a matter with which coroners are familiar. As the Court of Appeal recently held in M4 –v- Coroners Service [2022] NICA 6, the proper course of action is for a witness to be compelled to attend to give evidence and the privilege invoked, if sought, at an appropriate ti......
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In the matter of an inquest touching upon the deaths of Daniel Doherty and William Fleming (Ruling on engagement with the Coroner's Investigator and The Provision of Witness Evidence)
...of the Act and the decision of the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland in the case of M4 v Coroner’s Service for Northern Ireland [2022] NICA 6 (M4) (which recognised that a witness has a right to protect themselves from self-incrimination) they argue that there is no rule – statutory or ot......