FROM THE ARCHIVES:Nell McCaffertys In the Eyes of the Law column left Dublins district court for this case in Derry at a time when internment without trial was in force and the non-jury Diplock courts coming into effect. – JOE JOYCE
THE YOUTH was charged that on 16th December last year he did remain a member of an organisation proscribed by law – the Irish Republican Army. In Derry Recorder’s Court evidence was given that he had been detained at a British Army checkpoint in the early hours of the morning and had been brought to the R.U.C. station in the city.
A detective inspector told the court he had informed the accused that he had reason to believe he was a member of an unlawful organisation, the I.R.A. He had replied, “I am in the I.R.A.,” the inspector said, and a short form of caution was then administered. During depositions in an earlier court, the inspector continued, the accused had stated that he was refusing to recognise the court, and had said, “I am a member of the Republican movement and very proud of it. I am ashamed of nothing and have only one regret and that is getting caught.” Thus concluded the prosecution evidence.
The jury retired and after two hours and ten minutes could not reach a unanimous verdict. The judge recalled them and said he would accept a majority verdict. The jury retired again and after a further hour they returned a ten-to-two majority verdict of not guilty. Most of the jurors were Protestants.
The accused, who had been in custody for ten months, left the dock a free man. He descended the right-hand stairway leading out of the courtroom. His relatives came down the left-hand stairway. The R.U.C. closed in. They blocked the left-hand stairway and refused the relatives exit. Three constables seized the accused by the arms, pinned them behind his back, and dragged him by the hair of his head out into the hall. The relatives screamed. An inspector led the R.U.C. against the relatives, kicking, cursing, shoving and punching. The women replied in kind, as best they could, calling frantically to the youth who was now outside resisting the uniformed pack. The relatives burst into the hall. Too late. The youth was now outside where he was bundled into a jeep and taken away .
The courthouse doors were closed and the relatives were trapped inside, raging and sobbing and crying. Some members of the jury expressed shock. Others looked slightly shamed. Finally everyone was allowed to leave the courthouse, and some were helped on their way by R.U.C. boots.
In the street outside, the accused’s sister was distraught. Her jacket had been ripped at every seam, the arms torn out.
Another girl had a black and bleeding eye. Skirts had been torn, hair pulled savagely. The R.U.C. backed smilingly into the courthouse, exchanging epithets with the public. One policeman raised two fingers and referred to the Fenians in less than edifying terms.
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