‘Frank Kitson won’t be mourned in Derry, Ballymurphy, Kenya, Aden or anywhere he plied evil trade’

The Chair of the Bloody Sunday Trust, whose father Patrick was one of 14 people murdered by members of the British army’s 1st Battalion of the Parachute Regiment during an anti-internment demonstration in Derry on January 30, 1972, described the ‘Paras’ as ‘the crack troops of the empire’.

“There will be no sadness at the passing of Frank Kitson in Derry, Ballymurphy or in any other community where he plied his evil trade, leaving a trail of devastation behind.

"Kitson, in his blind pursuit of defending the crown’s interests, made no distinction between civilian and combatant as he honed his skills in applying torture, internment and death from Kenya, to Aden and then to Ireland.

“Here in the north, he invested heavily in the Parachute Regiment as the crack troops of the empire and, in doing so, was responsible for the Ballymurphy Massacre and Bloody Sunday and the torture of innocent people in RUC and British army barracks.

"Indeed, after Bloody Sunday and the murder of 14 innocent men and boys, he berated Colonel Derek Wilford for not going far enough into the Bogside, presumably to murder more.”

Mr. Doherty went on to condemn Kitson’s promotion within the ranks of the British army and his decoration in Elizabeth II’s honour’s in 1972 as ‘a disgrace’.

“Kitson received a CBE in the Queen’s honours list in February 1972, after wreaking havoc in Belfast in 1971. It is a disgrace that this award still stands even after the innocence of the Ballymurphy dead has been clearly established.

“Kitson was a willing tool of the British empire and has gone to his death a decorated ‘hero’ of the empire. His legacy is a terrible one. We are still living with it. He has blood on his hands from the innocents of three continents and will be remembered as a state terrorist who acted with total impunity.

“There will be no sadness at his passing in these parts,” said Mr. Doherty.

Parachute Regiment commander on Bloody Sunday Derek Wilford has died