Soldiers 'shot man in back’

Press, 20 April 1979, Page 5

Soldiers 'shot man in back’

NZPA Belfast A public, servant killed by British undercover soldiers last year on apparent suspicion of being a guerrilla was shot in the back, according to a pathologist’s report, the British Press Association has reported. James Taylor, who was 23, was shot dead last September 30 after the soldiers, believed to belong to Britain’s crack Special Air Services regiment, stalked him and two companions who were hunting wild fowl. Army headquarters conceded that Mr Taylor, a Protestant, was not a guerrilla, but said its undercover men “had reason to believe themselves to be in a terrorist situation.” The British Press Association said the pathologist’s report, still unpublished, showed that Mr Taylor was hit by three bullets fired from behind. It said the report was leaked to it, but did not say by whom. The soldiers have not been charged. The British Attor-ney-General (Mr Sam Silkin) questioned in February, said the Director of Public Prosecutions had not decided whether to prosecute. Mr Taylor’s two hunting companions told investigators that Mr Taylor was killed when he approached a vehicle which had followed them back to] their own car, the tyres ofi which had been slashed. The survivors said that; Mr Taylor had been! unarmed.