Diarmuid O'Neill

Irishman Diarmuid O'Neill was born and raised in West London, England.

Six weeks prior to his murder he was put under intensive police surveillance due to his alleged involvement with an IRA active service unit.

Besides producing intensive video documentation, the police bugged Diarmuid O'Neill's hostel room and searched it on at least one occasion. The surveillance operation resulted in extensive video footage that reportedly covered the whole six weeks except for the night of the raid on the hostel itself.

On 23rd September 1996, Diarmuid O'Neill was shot dead by two officers from Scotland Yard's tactical firearms group, SO19.

The British Police unit shot the almost naked, defenceless, unarmed man six times whilst he was attempting to surrender.

When the police opened fire on Diarmuid O'Neill, he had already showed both his hands clearly through the door of the hostel room and his friend Patrick Kelly had shouted "We give up - we are unarmed”. The other occupants of the room recall the police shouting "Shoot the fucker" as Diarmiud opened the door.

One police officer was seen standing with his foot on Diarmuid's head as he lay dying.

He was dragged bleeding and mortally wounded down six concrete steps like a rag doll, the blood from his wounds marking each step.

He was denied immediate medical treatment.

The initial police briefings justified the killing as the result of a gun battle and said that a bomb factory had been discovered in the hostel.

An audio tape of the raid by the police exposed the police version of events as a lie and lead only to the conclusion that Diarmuid O'Neill was murdered.

Throughout the tape Diarmuid O'Neill was clearly complying with all police requests, and was seen by the police to be unarmed and yet was still shot six times.

The murder and subsequent inhumane treatment of Diarmuid O'Neill has been the subject of a Police Complaints Authority investigation.

Despite all the evidence presented to them, the Crown Prosecution Service failed to bring charges against any police officer involved in the murder.

The trial of Brian McHugh and Patrick Kelly, arrested at the same address in Hammersmith, ended in December 1997. The disclosures and evidence presented at that trial clearly exposed Diarmuid O'Neill's killing as murder.

The policeman who shot Diarmuid O'Neill (who was named only as ‘officer Kilo' at the trial) gave contradictory evidence in court and should now be made to stand to account for his actions.

The Justice for Diarmund O'Neill Campaign believes that the responsibility for Diarmuid's death goes beyond the actions of the man who pulled the trigger.

The police, security forces and Home Office must also be held accountable.

Only an Independent, International, Public, Judicial Inquiry can ensure that justice is seen to be done for the family of Diarmuid O'Neill.

Join the Troops Out Movement in demanding an independent public inquiry into the murder of Diarmuid O'Neill.

 

 

Shooting of Diarmuid O’Neill in London - never an inquiry
Southern Star 06/10/06

Last week 300 people gathered at the cemetery in Timoleague to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the extra-judicial execution of Diarmuid O’Neill by the Metropolitan Police of London. Diarmuid’s West Cork parents and family were present at the graveside, as were members of Sinn Féin and North Belfast MLA, Gerry Kelly.

The young Irishman, O’Neill, was born and raised in West London. Police suspected he was a member of the IRA and six weeks prior to his killing put him under intensive surveillance, which included searching the hotel room that he and two companions were staying in and installing secret video recording equipment. On 23 September 1996 they decided to arrest him.

But far from carrying out his detention, they callously shot him dead in such an appalling manner that Amnesty International and other civil rights groups demanded a judicial public inquiry. At the inquest, coroner John Burton also called for an inquiry but the Home Secretary, Jack Straw, refused, and none has ever been set up.

The young man was shot six times by two officers from Scotland Yard’s tactical firearms group, SO10. O’Neill was semi-clothed, unarmed, and attempting to open the door to the police when he was assassinated. His two companions in the hotel, Brian McHugh and Patrick Kelly shouted, ‘We give up – we are unarmed’ when the police attacked. They recall hearing the police shouting, ‘Shoot the f...er’ as they opened fire on O’Neill, who had his hands raised.

A police officer was seen standing with his foot on O’Neill’s head as he lay dying before being dragged bleeding and mortally wounded down six concrete steps to the street. He was denied immediate medical treatment for 25 minutes although an ambulance was at hand. O’Neill subsequently died in hospital. The raid was a total disaster and had a chilling resonance last year when London police pumped eight bullets into Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes whom they mistook for a suicide bomber at Southwell Tube Station.

In preparation for the capture of Diarmuid O’Neill and his companions, police were shown video footage of the aftermath of the Canary Wharf bombing and told that the men in the hotel room had hand grenades, explosives and weapons, even though the video bugging made clear this was not the case. The police were provided with the most potent form of CS gas, ‘Rip’, which had never been tested properly and they were unaware of the consequences of using the gas. Indeed, not only were O’Neill and his friends affected, all but two of the police raiding party were overcome by fumes seeping into the corridor.

The raid was marked by a litany of errors. The special key the police brought to open the door would not fit so they used an electronic battering ram which, instead of knocking down the door, merely put a hole in it. The officer in charge, overcome by the CS gas, stayed outside with a fit of vomiting. The recording device, installed in the suspects’ room, gave a clear idea of what then happened.

Two policemen ordered Diarmuid O’Neill to open the door, after they made sure Brian McHugh and Patrick Kelly were down on the floor. O’Neill complied, telling the officers several times that he was unarmed. When he managed to prise the door open, he was shot three times in the abdomen and lower spine. He received another three bullets as he was falling. A post-mortem showed a bruise on his scalp that the pathologist said ‘probably resulted from an individual treading on his head’. In the wake of the shooting, one of the officers commented that Diarmuid O’Neill was ‘dead as a f...ing rat’.

The British and Irish media reported that during the arrest an exchange of gunfire took place and that explosives had been found. At the inquest two years later, such details were revealed as lies.

After two years of investigation, the Metropolitan Police produced a report, never made available to the public, which exonerated the police officers of any responsibility for the killing. It concluded that the officer who shot O’Neill acted in self-defence, describing him as a ‘capable and good chap’.

Amnesty International sought an impartial inquiry on the basis that an unarmed man had been shot dead while reportedly complying with police orders to surrender. The organisation was also concerned at the use of a very potent CS gas which made nearly everyone at the scene sick. They also denounced the denial of vital medical aid to a severely injured man and were concerned at the misinformation fed by the authorities to the media. They warned that the shooting of the young man would result in further unlawful killings and that this made the need for an inquiry all the more important. The execution of the innocent Brazilian last year shows how right they were.