PRESS RELEASE<\/strong>
\nHARTE COYLE COLLINS, SOLICITORS & ADVOCATES<\/strong>LIAM HOLDEN CIVIL TRIAL ON WATERBOARDING ALLEGATIONS TO BE<\/strong>
\nHEARD BY BELFAST HIGH COURT TUESDAY 11th JANUARY 2022<\/strong>
\n7TH JANUARY 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n

A civil case for compensation in respect of allegations of waterboarding by members of the
\nParachute Regiment in Belfast in 1972 is due to commence at Belfast High Court next
\nTuesday 11th January 2022. The trial is expected to last up to 9 days.<\/p>\n

Less than 4 weeks after the UK Supreme Court found in the Hooded Men case that \u201cit is<\/em><\/strong>
\nlikely that the deplorable treatment to which the Hooded men were subjected at the hands of<\/em><\/strong>
\nthe security forces would be characterized today, applying the standards of 2021, as torture\u201d,<\/em><\/strong>
\na court in Belfast will hear evidence of further alleged torture incidents against the army in
\nthe civil trial of Liam Holden.<\/p>\n

Mr Holden, now 67, received compensation from the Department of Justice under the
\nmiscarriage of justice scheme in 2017. That compensation award however did not include a
\npayout for the alleged waterboarding and public misfeasance allegations against the army and
\npolice. Separate proceedings had been issued by Mr Holden against both the MOD and the
\nPSNI in respect of those aspects of the case in 2014.<\/p>\n

Liam Holden will allege before the court that he was arrested on the 16th of October 1972 and
\nwaterboarded up to 3 or 4 times by members of the Parachute Regiment at Black
\nMountain Barracks, Belfast. He was 18 at the time of his arrest. He alleges that he was
\nphysically assaulted by members of the Parachute Regiment while in military custody,
\nsubjected to waterboarding, hooded, and then driven to the Glencairn area of Belfast where
\nhe alleges the army threatened to shoot him at gunpoint if he did not confess to the murder of
\na soldier some 4 weeks earlier.<\/p>\n

Private Frank Bell also aged 18, of the 2nd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment was wounded
\nby a single sniper shot on the 17th of September 1972 in Ballymurphy. He died 3 days later in
\nthe Royal Victoria Hospital. He was the first member of the Parachute Regiment killed in
\nNorthern Ireland.<\/p>\n

The murder of Private Frank Bell was investigated internally by the army\u2019s Royal Military
\nPolice in 1972, a practice which has recently been criticized by the courts in Northern
\nIreland.<\/p>\n

Liam Holden will allege that the misconduct by the army coerced a confession. He was tried
\nbefore a jury at Belfast City Commission from 15th to 19th April 1973. There was no other
\nevidence against him. He challenged the confession at trial. He gave evidence twice both at
\nthe voir dire in relation to the admissibility of the confession statement and again before the
\njury. He was convicted by the jury on the 19th of April 1973 and was sentenced
\nto death. The death penalty was commuted to a life sentence on the 15th of May 1973.<\/p>\n

Mr Holden spent 17 years in custody and was subject to life licence restrictions for 23 years
\nuntil the capital murder conviction was quashed by the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal on
\nthe 21st of June 2012.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PRESS RELEASE HARTE COYLE COLLINS, SOLICITORS & ADVOCATESLIAM HOLDEN CIVIL TRIAL ON WATERBOARDING ALLEGATIONS TO BE HEARD BY BELFAST HIGH COURT TUESDAY 11th JANUARY 2022 7TH JANUARY 2022 A civil case for compensation in respect of allegations of waterboarding by members of the Parachute Regiment in Belfast in 1972 is due to commence at Belfast…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37006,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69,73],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-legacy-cases","category-69","category-73","description-off"],"yoast_head":"\n