Appeal for Witnesses re Fatal Shooting of Master Patrick Crawford (15) in Royal Victoria Hospital on the 10^{th<\/sup> August 1975<\/strong><\/p>\n}

The sister and brothers of 15 year old Patrick Crawford who was shot dead while walking through the grounds of the Royal Victoria Hospital on the 10^{th<\/sup> August 1975 have today launched an appeal to the public for witnesses.\u00a0 The siblings are particularly interested in anyone who may have been working or attending the Royal Victoria Hospital who may have witnessed the murder of their 15 year old brother.<\/p>\n}

Patrick Crawford was killed by a single high velocity shot to the chest which entered his body to the front of his chest with a downward trajectory and an exit wound to his back.\u00a0 The bullet was never located at the scene.\u00a0 At the time of the shooting he was walking with 2 ladies through the grounds of the hospital from the Grosvenor Road entrance to the Falls Road exit.\u00a0 The 2 female witnesses both gave evidence at the original inquest in December 1979 confirming that Patrick was in fear of walking through the grounds of the Royal on his own and had asked if he could walk with them.\u00a0 Patrick Crawford neither was an innocent civilian, not a member of a paramilitary organisation nor was he armed at the time of his death.\u00a0 The next of kin believe that Patrick was shot by a member of the army who were stationed on buildings in the Royal Victoria Hospital at that time.<\/p>\n

The 2 ladies Mrs Kathleen Faloon and Mrs Annie Miskimmon who were with Patrick when he was shot dead have since died.\u00a0 Mrs Kathleen Faloon died on the 15^{th<\/sup> October 2006.<\/strong>\u00a0 Mrs Annie Miskimmon died on the 30th<\/sup> September 2019 at the age of 89.<\/p>\n}

The death of Master Patrick Crawford is currently the subject of a legacy inquest which is now one of 10 legacy inquests which the Presiding Coroner Mrs Siobhan Keegan hopes to fix for hearing in the near future.\u00a0 The fresh inquest had been prioritised by the Presiding Coroner Mrs Siobhan Keegan in 2019 because of Mrs Miskimmon\u2019s age.\u00a0 The inquest had been listed for hearing in 2020 but the court timetable was interrupted by the Covid 19 pandemic.\u00a0 Lawyers for the Crawford siblings captured Mrs Miskimmon\u2019s witness testimony on video in April 2019, 6 months before her death.<\/p>\n

The next of kin attended a video link Preliminary Hearing before the Coroner Judge Philip Gilpin on the 2^{nd<\/sup> October 2020 at which the Coroner outlined the preparation which has commenced in collating all the available evidence in relation to Master Crawford\u2019s death.\u00a0 Inquiries are being undertaken by the Coroner\u2019s Service with the Royal Victoria Hospital, the MOD, PSNI, the BBC and a full media trawl together with an independent engineer\u2019s report have been directed by the Coroner seeking all documents and materials which may assist the court in relation to the circumstances of the death of this child.\u00a0\u00a0 A further Preliminary Hearing has been fixed in the case for the 8th<\/sup> January 2021 to review all documents and materials collated and disclosed to the next of kin at that stage.<\/p>\n}

The inquest into the death of Patrick was granted on the 24^{th<\/sup> September 2015 after the family made their own direct efforts and lodged submissions to the Attorney General for Northern Ireland John Larkin.\u00a0 The siblings\u2019 father Patrick Crawford senior continued to campaign for a fresh investigation into Patrick\u2019s killing until his death on 30th<\/sup> September 2006.\u00a0 The original inquest jury verdict on the 19th<\/sup> December 1979 returned an open verdict.<\/p>\n}

Patrick and his siblings had also tragically lost their mother Martha Crawford who was shot dead during crossfire between the army and the IRA in the Andersontown area of Belfast on the 30^{th<\/sup> March 1972, 3 years before Patrick was killed in a shooting incident.\u00a0 Martha Crawford was a 39 year old married mother of 10 children at the time of her death.<\/p>\n}

The Crawford family are now appealing to the public to ask anyone who has any information whatsoever in relation to their brother Patrick\u2019s killing or who may have witnessed the killing while at or in the Royal Victoria Hospital to contact the Coroner\u2019s Service to provide the evidence directly to the Coroner in line with the witness protocol issued by the Presiding Coroner on the 6^{th<\/sup> October 2020.\u00a0 The Legacy Inquest Unit is based at Laganside House, 23-27 Oxford Street, Belfast, and telephone number 0300-200-7812.<\/strong><\/p>\n}

 <\/p>\n

Patricia Coyle<\/p>\n

Harte Coyle Collins<\/p>\n

9-15 Queen Street<\/p>\n

Belfast<\/p>\n

02890 278227<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Appeal for Witnesses re Fatal Shooting of Master Patrick Crawford (15) in Royal Victoria Hospital on the 10th August 1975 The sister and brothers of 15 year old Patrick Crawford who was shot dead while walking through the grounds of the Royal Victoria Hospital on the 10th August 1975 have today launched an appeal to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37378,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100,69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inquests-inquiries","category-latest-news","category-100","category-69","description-off"],"yoast_head":"\n