Coroner intends opening inquest for Patsy Duffy who was shot dead by SAS

At an earlier hearing into the death of Mr. Duffy, who was shot dead by the SAS in Maureen Avenue on November 24, 1978, it was suggested by counsel for the next of kin that delays in providing disclosure could result in the inquest never taking place due to the British Government's Legacy Bill.

It was suggested one way to avoid this would be for the inquest to be opened with some 'non contentious witnesses'.

At a hearing on Thursday Martin Wolfe, KC for the Ministry of Defence, said that there were 'finite resources available to state bodies' for hearings like this.

He said the MoD could not 'magic out of thin air' resources to deal with the material involved in this and other inquests.

Mr. Wolfe said that he was against any decision to start this inquest in some sort of modular form and added: “I, for one, could not contemplate opening in February.”

Stephen Toal, counsel for the Duffy family, said they were not requesting the MoD to use magic and that the MoD have known about this inquest 'for years' and were not being asked to do anything 'out of the ordinary'.

Ian Skelt, KC for the Coroner, said it was 'beyond doubt from the MoD there will be a significant delay before a full inquest.'

The Coroner Judge Fiona Bagnall said she was mindful of the pressure on the MoD but there was a way through that would not prejudice anyone.

She proposed that she should start the inquest briefly with non-contentious witnesses and that would allow all parties to timetable when documentation would be available.

Mr. Toal for the next of kin told the Coroner her ruling 'was gratefully received by the Duffy family.'

The hearing was told one soldier involved in the shooting had been identified and was being contacted to try and identify two other soldiers believed to have been involved. One other soldier was dead.

The next hearing was fixed for February 9 to ascertain a location for the hearing to be opened.