Hyde Park bombing suspect John Downey cruelly snubs final chance to accept responsibility
Lawyers for victims' families asked Downey to pay £40,000 to a veterans charity and to admit his role in the 1982 atrocity but the court deadline expired last night
THE prime suspect in the Hyde Park bombing has cruelly snubbed a final chance to accept responsibility.
A damages claim against ex-IRA man John Downey, 66, will now go ahead.
High Court rules meant he got a last-ditch opportunity to settle a civil action backed by Sun readers.
Lawyers for victims’ families asked Downey to pay £40,000 to a veterans’ charity, make a “full and frank” admission of his role in the 1982 atrocity and formally apologise.
But a court deadline expired last night.
Downey’s failure to even reply came on the eve of today’s 36th anniversary of the attack.
Lance Corporal Jeffrey Young, 19, Corporal Roy Bright, 36, Trooper Simon Tipper, 19, and Lieutenant Anthony Daly, 23, all died. A further 31 people were injured and seven cavalry horses also died.
Last night Trooper Tipper’s brother Mark, 58, told The Sun: “Downey was a coward then and he’s a coward 36 years on. But thanks to The Sun’s readers and support we’ve had elsewhere, we’ve got a chance to have our day in court.”
Downey’s 2014 Old Bailey trial collapsed due to errors by the Government and police. Families have spent ten months fighting for a civil court action, with Sun readers raising more than £85,000.
Papers were finally served on Downey, who denied any “involvement in the planning and planting of the bomb”.
Both parties must try to settle before any case goes ahead, which is now likely to be at London’s High Court next year.
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Sarahjane Young, daughter of Corporal Young, helped launch the campaign. She vowed: “Justice will be found.”
There are also hopes he could face another criminal trial after it emerged a letter promising him immunity from prosecution had “no legal weight”.