Speech by Mark Tipper
HYDE PARK JUSTICE CAMPAIGN
Delivered at the Ulster Unionist Party Conference
Armagh City Hotel
Saturday 21 October 2017
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Hello my name is Mark Tipper. I would like to thank the Ulster Unionist Party for my invitation to address you here today, especially Danny Kinahan and everyone else attending.
Some of you within this room may not have been born when I lost my brother, Trooper Simon Tipper to an IRA car bomb in Hyde Park - that day and date will remain with us forever. Three other serving members of this proud regiment were also murdered that day - Lieutenant Anthony Daly, Corporal Major Roy Bright and Lance Corporal Jeffrey Young. Seven of the Household Cavalry horses were also killed.
Our loved ones pledged their lives to this country. Yet, one government after another has turned its back on them, and us.
Over the following 31 years my family and I have had to somehow learn to come to terms with the fact that no-one has ever been successfully convicted for the terrorist atrocity that murdered my brother and his fellow soldiers.
Then, on the 22nd May 2013 John Downey was arrested at Gatwick airport.
Maybe at last we could find justice at the Old Bailey. But Tony Blair made sure this wasn’t going to happen. What we didn’t know is that he had sat down in Downing Street with Jonathon Powell and Sinn Fein members and hatched the On The Run letters, which made sure Downey would walk free. All Downey had to do was produce his get out of jail free card and the Court let him go. We were robbed of learning whether Downey was guilty or not, of who was really responsible for murdering our loved ones. We were denied justice.
We met with Dominic Grieve, who was the Attorney General and Lady Justice Hallett. We then sat through the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee investigation into the On The Run letters. All in power blaming the PSNI and Mr Norman Baxter. I knew who was at fault for this trial collapsing - one man and one man alone - Mr. Blair. In the end, it was found that giving Downey his letter had been a catastrophic error. Still, nothing was done about it.
Hopefully they were thinking within government this one would go away - how wrong they are. The families of these victims of the Hyde Park Bombing have stronger resolve than that and will fight to the end to ensure justice is served.
Deep within my heart I knew the families deserve justice. The Omagh victims had never given in and never would; I researched how they had taken out a civil prosecution against the terrorists who had committed this disgusting evil atrocity.
The name Matt Jury at McCue and Partners came up as their solicitor, whom I contacted. This was the turning point for the Hyde Park Bombing families. At last someone was on our side willing to fight for us, not charging us a penny, not taking no for an answer, no matter what obstacles have been laid in his way, the first time since 1982 that we were receiving help.
We started work preparing to take our own civil case against the man who was still the chief suspect, Downey. We don’t want compensation. I don’t want a penny – that’d be blood money. We just want the truth. We have a right to know who was responsible for our loved ones’ murders. The public have a right to know who carried out one of the worst terrorist attacks on British soil. But to do so, we needed legal aid.
The Legal Aid Agency keep laying obstacles in the way of Sarahjane Young who is one of the finest people you could wish to meet, only 3 at the time of the bombing, who actually saw the blast and the aftermath - injured/dead soldiers. She will not mind me saying that the following years have not been easy, she is more than entitled to legal aid, this being supported by a High Court Judge.
Still no legal aid for her, hopefully the powers that be will come to their senses and allow her what she deserves - justice. Only legal aid will allow this. The chief suspect himself received £50K. Drummer Lee Rigby’s killers received £200K. A terrorist who cannot be named from Jordan who was jailed for 9 years got £250K to fight his deportation. Abu Qatada received £500K in legal aid. I could keep going but !!
One thing though this is taxpayer’s money - let’s ask them how Shaun McNally, Chief Executive of the Legal Aid Agency should divide our hard earned pennies. I know for sure that the Hyde Park Justice Campaign would now have been funded had the funding been granted by a show of hands from the public.
And it was the public we finally had to turn to start the legal action against Downey.
With the help of the Sun newspaper and Crowdjustice, thousands have been raised so far by generous donations, I thank everyone who has shown support to this case and given so generously.
One thing that would help us greatly is to learn the truth of who was responsible and see them held to account. But, rather than ease our pain, the government has just made it worse.
The Chief Suspect walked free from the Old Bailey because of a shameful and secret deal by Tony Blair with the IRA. Because of this, we've been forced to take our own private legal action.
Instead of backing us, the Legal Aid Agency has refused again and again to fund this case on irrational grounds, including, absurdly, that justice in this case isnʼt in the public interest. How can it not be in the public interest to bring suspected terrorists to trial?
We have been made victims three times over. First by the bomb, then by Blair and now by the bureaucrats of the Legal Aid Agency.
Over the years, after every terrorist attack, we've seen governments pledge the victims and survivors every support. They promise to leave no stone unturned to bring the killers to justice. The tragedy is that, all too quickly and often, these commitments are forgotten.
The fact is that our government does not do enough for victims of terrorism in this country. There's not enough long-term support and care - we've never been offered any. But, worst of all, there's not enough access to justice.
Sometimes, state prosecutions fail or cannot be brought. We understand that. But when they do, the victims should be given every support possible to bring their own legal actions. Instead, we're blocked at every turn and it leaves us wondering: whose side is the government on?
What message are we sending to terrorists if we say - you can attack our capital, murder our troops, police and innocent civilians and be left to walk free and not answer for your crimes?
Where will the British victims of Mumbai, Tunisia or Paris atrocities be in 30
years time? Unless our government does more and takes its responsibilities to victims more seriously, the risk is they will be where we are now: without support, without justice and having to resort to begging the British public for help.
Why does our government abandon our victims so routinely? Why do we continue to let it?
All we are seeking is the truth about who murdered our loved ones. The only way to do that is to bring the Chief Suspect to court, a man who has been linked by police files to six separate terrorist attacks.
£400 million in government money and legal aid was spent on the Saville Inquiry to establish the truth about thirteen killings during the Troubles.
We are asking for just 0.2% of that amount to determine the truth about the murder of four British soldiers at the hands of terrorists.
When it comes to justice, it begs the question: is a British soldier’s life worth less?
To make matters worse, all the while the state continues to pay for endless inquiries, inquests and court hearings against veterans of our armed forces and security services.
Any unlawful killing should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent. This imbalance, inequality and injustice must come to an end. Appeasing one terrorist group can only encourage another.
Thanks to our legal team’s dedication and commitment, despite all the hurdles placed in their way, papers have now been served on Downey, they’ve kept our case alive, and we’re making a new application to the Legal Aid Agency. If we’re to continue with our case, our only hope is that it will now do the right thing and support us.
As victims this never goes away, it never will. Michael Pederson who rode Sefton on the tragic day - I knew Michael - I could never imagine that he would take his children’s lives and his own. My friend Simon Utley who suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder struggles daily, 20th July 1982, this man’s first ever duty, I know that this man who served Queen and Country is not being looked after by the people who would have put him on the front line.
I think maybe the children of today need to know of the past atrocities, as our world becomes more dangerous, they will need to know how to deal with terror and terrorists in a fully justifiable way which is a law court not a man sat in Downing Street thinking I am lord and master.
Unless you have been a victim of terror it is difficult to understand how we feel. Your closest friends try but can only listen. Having recently joined the South East Fermanagh Foundation, who now have an office on the mainland, I as a victim now have someone who can offer me help, which has never been in place before. More funding is required for these organisations and any others that are supporting victims of terrorism. More funding is needed to give victims like us access to justice. Ministers please listen we need them These people understand the pain that never goes away, hopefully the families and myself will see justice in the not too distant future, we can then sleep more easily and so will those four brave men from that fateful day.
I would like to thank anyone who has offered the families help whether it be by donation or verbal support, it is greatly appreciated by us all.
Thank you