THE BELFAST RIOTS.

NZ Truth, Issue 125, 9 November 1907, Page 8

THE BELFAST RIOTS.

HOW THE VICTIMS WERE SHOT DOWN.

Bayonet and Baton Charges.

Soldiers Compelled to Fire on the Mob.

Oh Monday, Septenib'er 2', .In Bel--fast, the inquest (states an ex-, change) was resumed on the belies of Margaret JLennon and Charles McSVTuHan, who were shot during the riots on the Falls-road •on the night of AugUst 12. The medical evidence was to the effect that Lennon died from hemorrhage. Dr. Maguire, :of .the Mater Hospital, was cross-exam-ined by Mr Harbison with a view, to jshow that the bullet was of an explo,siyij or some other abnormal character. The wounds were large enough -to jidmit tiis index finger, bat .he knew very little of bullets. He .did not think Lennon's life could . have, been saved had medical attendance, been available immediately after she was shot. , Dr. Jameson said m the case of McMullan death was almostinstantaneous. John McAfee -describeed the disturbance on the Falls-road ' on the occasion when Maggie Lennon was shot. Witness, when lie . heard ""•the shooting, took pains to observe Avhol-her. anyone would be hurt, and he saw a girl come from the direction of the crowd, who he afterwards had •I>een told was the deceased, Magfcie. tt.ennon. She was very pale, arid j : Kiade for: a house m Alma-street. at j the door of which foe was standing.}'.! He noticed, 'her beginning to fail m , ■her step, as if about tp fall. Witness:] put Li.s arms under her arm-pits, .to j prevent her falling, and afterwards | -brought hereto.. G./A!marstreet. When .witness., first,; saw. the girl, she was '.about. 13 yards from Falls-road, going towards -Alma-street; The priest and doctor, were sent; for, • and later I ton she was taken to the hospital. I ALLEGATIONS AGAINST THE -SOLDIERS.: ; Cross-examined-: .-The soldiers were about, 60 yards from the corner of jAlbert-streeL At first there were a"l>6ub fifty .people on the road. About this time they were principally lads. There was ' stpne-t'nrowing, but he (Would not consider it serious. He ofiten saw as.mdny stones thrown m a football match. The class of atones flhrown and the class of stone-throw^ 'ers m the crowd (mostly women and children) did not make it likely that any of the stones would reach the mill fcary m the position m which they were. It was principally lads who nvere throwing, and the stones • were not large. People were passing up and down the road just as usual. The stone-throwing considerably increased after the shots were fired. He .would say it was ten times as bad. [As £ar as he could judge, ho one about the road seemed to apprehend [that there was abjout to be a discharge of firearms. At any rate, no Intimation, as far as he knew, was Riven to the people of what was going to happen. There was a t'sceite' a.t this point. Counsel for tbeiiext-(Of-kin wanted to elicit evidence concerning the state of the road on the following night. His object,.\ he said, was.' to prove that the rio^ was. provoked by the soldiery, and ceased when they were withdrawn. The Coroner, however, declined to allow the evidence. Major Thackeray, R.M., Curragh Camp, deposed that he had been specially stationed m Belfast, and on AugustVl2. was on duty af the Model School, Falls-road, where he arrived shortly before 6 o'clock. There were 100 men of the Royal Sussex Regiment and 50 police on the scene when he arrived ; and under orders witness took control of the military, and had the entire force,, both soldiers and police, taken into the yard of the schoolhouse, out of sight of the people. MILITARY BEATEN B'KCK. : T-here was no disturbance at ' tliat-'. ;time. But 20 minutes later— Rfoout C.20 o'clock— some noise of shouting was heard ; and "witness, gathering from the sound where the disturbance was, went up the Falls-road m the ■direction, of Albert-Street. He looked down Lemon-street and heard shouting, apparently m the far end of the street, but did not go down, and then returned to the Model School, where, affcer staying a few minutes he met TVfcijor Green, and -in bis company weirt out for another walk as far as .Albert-street, Near {Albert-street tb«y met a body of- cav-i alrv, apparently driving a mob •them, and they all passed down Al-.i bert-strect.. In consequence of what] Witness saw awl heard, he, with ■ Ma- j ior Green and a District Inspector, ' moved out the troops and police at the different corners. For a short i ,time- witness stayed with a section at Derby-street, while others went j further up. Stone-throwing commenced at once m the side streets where the stations were taken up, and during the proceedings a number of

charges were made,- an3 'arrest's "!olflowed. In consequence of the riotous disturbance, witness requested the 'military officer to detach a section of the soldiers and police to line across the- Falls-road, the object of that being to prevent persons coming coming down the road and taking tire military m the rear.' A fusilade of' stones was directed at the cordon, and a [bayonet and b.aton charge was made to disperse thg mob. But the crowd, which at first gave way, afterwards succeeded m beating the police back, so that the military were facing the crowd, and subsequently they were also beaten back. Mr Bates \, Was there some confusion ? Witness : No. Witness (continuing) said that the crowd continued the stoning, and out of the party which was on duty only some eight escaped 'being struck. The stones fiew m all directions amongst them, and witness saw one man being knocked right off his feet owing to the very heavy fusilade of stones. Witness saw the soldiers could not face the mob.. " * SOLDIERS WAVER. Witness saw Major Green seize hold of a soldier's fifle, and turn the man round to face the mob ; and he then told the military (who were on the left') , | and who seemed inclined to give way, to "stand firm." At that tiiViethe crowd numbered, m his estimation, between four and five Hundred, the nearest . man throwing stories being only 25 yards from the body of "Hie military. The stoning became much fiercer, and the crowds more hostile ; so, m consequence, witness said to Major Green, "We must take immediate action." Witness then shouted to the crowd, "For God's sake, stop, or the. troops will have to fire." But that had no. effect whatsoever on the mob, who still continued to come up closer and stone all the fiercer. Matters became so bad that it would have been impossible for the party to keep their position, and there was no other alternative than to give Major Green permission to fife. There was only i that for it, or being knocked down. Mr ; Bates : Having shouted to the mob, what did you do ? Witness : I read the Riot Act and gave Major Green instructions to take action under the : reg!uila,tions. Witness (continuing) said Major Green ordered the firing, and witness saw it take place. He could not tell the number of shots that were. fired. After the firing the stone-throwing temporarily ceased, and the pressure upon"" the military was relieved. Stone-throw-ing again commenced, and was continued till 1 o'clock m the morning, i at which hour the last man— one of the soldiers— was upon the forehead with a stone and knocked unconscious. Reinforcements came upon the scene, and the situation was held m hand until it quietened: down. ONLY THREE ALTERNATIVES. -On Tuesday at the adjourned inquiry Major Thackeray, who read the Riot Act and gave the order to fire to the military, admitted that ! .he threw one stone , at the crowd 1 after the firing took place. Cross-ex-amined : Whea you gave the order to fire, do you swear that you were m danger of your lives ?— Yes, I do. In further cross-examination the witness stated that the picket he had charge of consisted of 12 men, but although there were other soldiers within a (quarter of . a mile, they were engaged m dealing with stonethrowing crowds. One of his, men had his nose smashed and four others were admitted" to hospital the following morning." Major Green, .who had charge of the firing party, said that there were only three . alternatives open to the soldiers— to <run away, to stand and be killed, or to . lire. 'Altogether seven shots were fired, ball cartridge being used. They we,re forbidden by the regulations to fire hlank cartridges or to fire over the heads of the people. About a minute elapsed between the reading of fthe Riot Act and the firing. SOLDIERS WOULD. HAVE BEEN TRAMPLED DOWN. Cross-examined : Major Green said thai considering the circumstances he was justified m giving an order which might have resulted m the taking of human life. Subsequent to the firing he took part m stonethrowing, as did also some of his men.-: If the military had not fired I the mob would have trampled over them m another half minute. None of the soldiers were permanently incapacitated.