'Triumph against state injustice': Liam Holden family welcome 'torture' damages award

The family of a west Belfast man who was tortured into admitting to killing a soldier in 1972 and was awarded further damages in court described his campaign as a "triumph for humanity over state injustice".

They said it was sad he was not alive to see his campaign succeed.

Liam Holden's family were awarded £350,000 in damages by the High Court in Belfast on Friday. He had previously been awarded £1million in damages at a previous hearing.

Mr Holden who died last year at the age of 68, was the last man in Northern Ireland sentenced to hang. His sentence was later reduced to life in prison. His conviction was later quashed in 2012 and he was awarded £1m in damages for the miscarriage of justice.

Mr Justice Rooney said he had been unlawfully detained, hooded and had a gun pointed at his head by members of the Parachute Regiment intent on getting him to wrongly admit to shooting Private Frank Bell more than 50 years ago.

Speaking after the ruling, Mr Holden's son, Samuel said: "It's such a shame he's not here to see it finished.

"It was a hard journey for him. Everything he went through, now it's finished and it's just sad that he's not here to see it done."

Mr Holden’s estate will now receive the further payout following his legal victory against the Ministry of Defence (MoD). 

Before he died, Mr Holden sued for alleged misfeasance in public office, assault, battery and torture over his alleged torture while in military custody.

In October 1972 he was arrested following the shooting of Private Bell in the Springfield Avenue area of west Belfast.

An 18-year-old chef at the time, Mr Holden was taken to a British Army post at Blackmountain school where he said paratroopers deployed banned interrogation techniques.

Soldiers pinned him to the floor and placed a folded towel over his face, the court heard.

According to his account the repeated torture methods left him fearing that he was drowning.

The MoD defended the action by denying liability.

Bronagh Holden, Liam's daughter, read a statement on behalf of the family outside court on Friday.

"We very much welcome the detailed decision by the court today," she said.

"The court has found that our father was waterboarded by the British army in Belfast in 1972.

"The court has also found that he was maliciously prosecuted by the Army.

"The court has today exposed the grotesque act of torture committed by the members of the Paratrooper Regiment in Belfast in 1972.

"Our father was an innocent man who went to jail, for a crime he didn't commit, for 17 years.

"We wish he was here today with us. He died on the 15th sept 2022.

"We miss him but salute him. His life and campaign for justice were a triumph for humanity over state injustice."

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