An alleged IRA terrorist has been ordered to stand trial charged with the murder of a UDR soldier more than 45 years ago.
Appearing in the dock of Armagh Magistrates Court, sitting in Newry, where relatives of his alleged victim were watching from the public gallery, James Donegan (68) confirmed his identity and that he was aware of charges against him.
Earlier this year Donegan, from Bruce Manor, Arva, Co Cavan, was extradited from the Republic to face the charge of the murder of Joseph James Porter on a date unknown between June 22nd and 25th, 1979.
The pensioner is further accused of having a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life and with the membership of a proscribed organisation, namely the Irish Republican Army, on the same dates.
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The body of Mr Porter, a 64-year-old farmer and part-time UDR soldier, was found close to the entrance of his farm at Creggan Road, Mountnorris, Co Armagh, at about 9.30am on June 24th, 1979.
A postmortem examination conducted that day concluded that Mr Porter had died of gunshot wounds to the head and torso.
During a contested application for bail earlier this year, a prosecuting lawyer outlined that while Mr Porter was fully clothed, his socks were missing.
He had been in a local bar earlier that evening and was last seen alive driving home at about 11.25pm. The lawyer described how neighbours and witnesses heard two loud bangs, “which they recognised as gunshots” about an hour later.
His body was discovered at 9.30am. When police arrived at the scene, they discovered that while there was no evidence of a forced entry, his house had been ransacked.
The assumption was that his killers were searching for his personal protection pistol and any other weaponry they could find.
His pistol was indeed stolen and a few days later the Provisional IRA claimed responsibility for the murder, saying Mr Porter had been “interrogated and executed because of his involvement in the British war machine in NI”.
Police enquiries established that the murder weapon, a Ruger rifle, had been used in subsequent attacks on the security forces, while a crime scene investigation found a fingerprint inside Mr Porter’s ransacked home.
That print was found to match one taken from Donegan when he was arrested for alleged terrorist activities in 1977.
While there were no convictions or charges at that time, a review by HET (the Historical Enquiries Team) and the legacy investigation team established the alleged link to the murder scene.
It was also a feature of the case, the lawyer submitted, that Donegan had been given a six-year sentence for having a rifle and ammunition at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin in 1981.
Prosecutors in the Republic were asked to consider prosecuting Donegan for the murder but the court heard that twice in 2017 the Director of Public Prosecutions decided against prosecution.
It was after the legacy investigation team matched the fingerprint that extradition proceedings were initiated in June last year.
When the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal, Donegan surrendered himself to the Garda, who then handed him to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
During interviews, Donegan “referred to himself as being a soldier in a war and that Mr Porter was a legitimate target”.
In court on Tuesday, Donegan’s defence team said they did not accept there was a prima facie case and while they made submissions, those details cannot be reported.
Having considered defence arguments, however, district judge Anne Marshall ruled: “I find there is a case to answer.”
She told the court: “I am satisfied there is sufficient evidence to return this case to crown court. It is not for me to adjudicate on guilt or innocence and all such matters will be aired at trial.”
Returning the case to Newry Crown Court, the judge remanded Donegan on £500 bail with a combined total of £200,000 in sureties and ordered him to appear for arraignment on December 2nd.
