Shropshire IRA bomb victim family let down
The family of a Shropshire soldier killed in the IRA Hyde Park atrocity today criticised a decision to abandon the prosecution of a key witness.
Roy Bright was just 36 when he died during one of the most appalling terror attacks of the 1980s.
Responsibility for the deadly blast, which killed four soldiers, seven army horses and injured more than 30 others, was later claimed by the Provisional IRA.
But the collapse at the Old Bailey of the case brought against 62-year-old suspect John Downey today brought dismay to the families of the victims.
Downey, who was previously convicted of membership of the IRA, was told he was free to go after it was revealed he had wrongly been given a police guarantee he would not face trial.
The family of Squadron Quartermaster Corporal Bright, of Broseley, today said they had been 'let down' by the authorities.
They issued a joint statement with the families of the other murdered soldiers, Lieutenant Dennis Daly, 23, Trooper Simon Tipper, 19, and Lance Corporal Jeffrey Young, 19.
It spoke of the families' 'great sadness' and added: "This news has left us all feeling devastatingly let down.
"The end result is that the opportunity for the full chain of those terrible events will never be put in the public domain for justice to be seen to be done. Our men signed up to serve their country in good faith, yet now it seems that that faith was not supported by those within certain areas of authority.
"The families now seek a degree of accountability for this catastrophic failure."
