Steve Shaw - 19 Dec 16 - 05:23 AM strange post that.

Taking points in context and in reverse order:

1: "On that occasion he had not put himself into the firing line." - Joe McCann put himself in the "firing line" as you put it, the second he joined the Official IRA and took up arms and became Officer Commanding the Official IRA's Third Belfast Battalion.

2: "We do not have summary executions by soldiers without trial in this country." - I think Jim Carroll, Raggy and a few of the other "usual suspects" will be interested to hear that. They seem to be of the opinion that there is a tradition of it. But I agree 100% that we indeed do not have summary executions by soldiers without trial in this country. Joe McCann a known "combatant" with quite a reputation was not summarily executed, he was shot attempting to escape lawful arrest. Joe McCann's track record at the time of the incident was as follows:

On 22 May 1971, McCann's unit ambushed a British patrol, killing one soldier.

McCann led a unit which captured 3 UVF members in Sandy Row. The UVF had raided an OIRA arms dump earlier that day and the OIRA announced they would execute the three prisoners if the weapons were not returned. McCann eventually released the three UVF members because they were "working class men like yourself".

on 9 August 1971 when his unit took over the Inglis bakery in the Markets area and fortified it after the introduction of internment without trial by the Northern Ireland authorities (see Operation Demetrius). They defended it throughout the night from an incursion by 600 British soldiers, looking to arrest paramilitary suspects

In early February 1972, he was involved in the attempted assassination of Ulster Unionist politician and Northern Ireland Minister for Home Affairs John Taylor in Moira, County Down.

In another incident he and a comrade were standing outside a Belfast cinema to purchase tickets for the film Soldier Blue when McCann spotted a British Army checkpoint. He drew his gun and fired at the soldiers before running away laughing.

This was the man the RUC Special Branch and the Army were hoping to catch. How many chances would you give him were you in the boots of either of those soldiers Shaw? McCann obviously regarded himself as a combatant commander engaged in a war, who thought any target that presented itself was fair game. When confronted by members of the security forces and ordered to halt he decided to make a run for it, his decision, his choice. To live all he had to do was stand still, he was given an option, now tell us what chance did McCann give any of his victims.

3: "The consequence was that he had bullet after bullet fired into his body as he lay on the ground." - According to eye-witnesses the first shot fired hit McCann in the leg indicating that whoever fired was not intent on killing McCann. He staggered then fell with the soldiers presumably continuing to fire on the same point of aim. Firearms training received would tell the soldiers to continue firing until their target stopped moving. It was only after the incident that soldiers A and C knew for certain that McCann was unarmed.