By Eniola Amadu
Social and Democratic Labour Party (SDLP) MP representing Foyle, Colum Eastwood has condemned the government’s action to spend over £4m of public funds on the defence of Soldier F, calling it “sickening.”
The former paratrooper was acquitted earlier this month of two counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder related to Bloody Sunday in Londonderry in 1972.
Parliament revealed in a response to Eastwood that legal costs for the case amounted to £4.3m.
The SDLP MP noted that upon receipt of all bills, the final figure would be “much higher”.
Around 15 people were injured and thirteen were shot dead at a civil rights protest at Londonderry in January 1972.
During an appearance on BBC Radio Foyle’s North West Today, he stated the spending was different to the financial support given to the Bloody Sunday families.
He said: “We have to remember during this whole trial the families had to make their own way to Belfast,” adding that “They had no support at all from the government.”
“But this guy who’s been a protected species for 53 years is getting millions of our money spent on him”.
The Foyle MP further noted that such happened “because he (Soldier F) and other soldiers perjured themselves at the Saville inquiry”.
According to him “He put himself in that situation by lying to the Saville inquiry.”
“I’ve asked more questions about exactly what money was spent and what rates were paid,” he added.
Answering a question from Eastwood, veterans minister Alister Carns provided information on the costs of Soldier F.
He revealed that Soldier F had gotten welfare and legal support throughout the proceeding and that the Ministry of Defence was “committed”.
Ulster Unionist Party MLA Doug Beattie said it was “a huge amount of money,” noting that £192m had also been spent on the Saville Inquiry.
“This is an employer putting in defence of an employee they sent to Northern Ireland knowing full rightly that they had not done all that they should have done to make sure that he was trained properly for deploying to that type of environment.”
He added that “the only people who benefitted from any of this has been the lawyers.”
