Tobias Molloy’s family request fresh inquest over 1972 rubber bullet shooting

Tobias was aged 18 when he died on July 17, 1972, from fatal injuries received when he was struck by a rubber bullet fired by a soldier of the 1st Royal Welsh Fusiliers at Lifford Road, Strabane, at the ‘Camel’s Hump’ checkpoint.

He is one of three people to have died from the use of rubber bullets by the security forces in the north of Ireland alongside Francis Rowntree, aged 11 years, who died in April 1972 and Thomas Friel, aged 21 years, who died in May 1973.

An inquest was held into the death of Tobias Molly on July 22, 1972 in Lifford, County Donegal by Deputy Coroner for East Donegal Mr Larry Coyle, at Lifford Hospital, six days after the incident. There was no inquest held in the north.

An application was made by the Molloy family to the Attorney General NI and he determined in 2019 that it was ‘less likely that Mr Molloy died in Northern Ireland than he died in Ireland’ and therefore could not grant a fresh inquest as ‘the jurisdiction of the Coroner in NI does not extend to deaths that occur outside Northern Ireland’.

The family solicitor Pádraig Ó Muirigh, lodging the fresh inquest application yesterday, said: “The original inquest proceeded in the absence of a an investigation into the death of Mr Molloy by An Garda Síochána or the RUC.

“Holding the inquest six days after his death meant there was not a sufficient amount of time for an investigation to be properly conducted. In fact, we received correspondence from An Garda Síochána in 2016 which confirmed that there was no record at all of a Garda investigation into the death.

“The investigation carried out by the RUC was manifestly inadequate and the inconsistencies in the statements of soldiers and witness accounts were never challenged by the military investigation or by the RUC. In particular, discrepancies over whether Mr Molloy was deliberately targeted and reports that the rubber bullet was aimed directly at Mr Molloy were not properly addressed.”

Mr. Ó Muirigh said there is new evidence to support the application including multiple ‘new statements recorded after a press appeal by the Pat Finucane Centre, media reports, a draft HET report and an expert report’. All of these have been lodged with the Attorney General to support this application.