Dessie Grew
Desmond "Dessie" Grew (14 September 1953[1] – 9 October 1990) was a volunteer in the East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA).[2] Grew was killed by undercover Special Air Service soldiers in County Armagh in 1990 along with fellow IRA volunteer, Martin McCaughey who was also a Sinn Féin councillor.
Background
Grew was the second eldest in a family of seven girls and four boys born to Kathleen and Patrick Grew. He was educated at primary level at
The Grews originally lived in a predominantly
Paramilitary career
During his adult life Dessie Grew was a highly active member of the Irish National Liberation Army and the IRA.[4][5][6] An arrest warrant for Grew had been issued by German police on suspicion of the murder of RAF communications operative Corporal Maheshkumar 'Mick' Islania and his six month old daughter, Nivruti Islania, in West Germany in 1989.[7][8][9][10]
Grew was shot dead along with
As the pair approached an agricultural shed which was being used to grow mushrooms and also thought to have been an IRA arms dump, as many as 200 shots are believed to have been fired at them. Autopsy results showed Grew had 48 bullet wounds and McCaughey 12. British Army reports of the shooting stated that the two men left the shed holding two rifles. Republican sources state the men were unarmed.[4][12][13][14]
His brother Seamus Grew had also been killed in disputed circumstances by an undercover E4A squad on the outskirts of Armagh in 1982.[15] Grew had stated weeks before his death that in the event of his death that he wished to be laid beside Seamus. In line with his wishes, Grew was buried at Armagh City cemetery in October 1990.[3] Gerry Adams gave the oration at his funeral, calling him "a freedom fighter, a patriot and a decent upstanding Irish citizen".[16]
Aftermath
The family of McCaughey claimed that Grew and McCaughey were ambushed after a stake out by the SAS. In January 2002, Justice Weatherup, a Northern Ireland High Court Judge ordered that official military document relating to the shooting should be disclosed. However, PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde had the ruling overturned on appeal in January 2005.[17][18]
In April and May 2012, an inquest in front of a jury was held. Reaching its verdict after hearing weeks of evidence, the jury ruled that the SAS had used "reasonable force" during the operation and that the IRA men's own actions had contributed to their deaths.[citation needed]
See also
References
- ^ CO exemplaar – Stichting Argus, Oct 1990
- ^ An Phoblacht, 7 October 2004
- ^ ISBN 0-9542946-0-2.
- ^ a b Jack Holland. "INLA emerges again in Armagh" Irish Echo. Retrieved on 8 February 2007.
- CAIN. Retrieved 29 May 2007.
- ^ Herald: IRA Terrorist was Patriot says Adams
- ^ Bain, Mark (26 October 2019). "Baby killed by IRA remembered 30 years on". Belfast Telegraph.
- ISBN 978-0-7475-5806-4.
The German police subsequently issued a warrant for the arrest of Desmond 'Dessie' Grew
- ISBN 978-1840185041.
Desmond Grew was also wanted for questioning in Germany in connection with the killing of an RAF corporal and his six-moth-old daughter. German police had issued a warrant for his arrest
- ISBN 0-312-15632-4.
At the time of his death he was wanted in Germany for the October 1989 murder of Royal Air Force Corporal Maheshkumar and his six-month-old baby
- ^ Transcript from "BRITS" Holding the line BBC Documentary
- ISBN 0-14-101041-X.
- ISBN 0-312-15632-4.
- ISBN 1-85635-437-7.
- ISBN 1-56000-901-2
- ISBN 0-7475-3818-2.
- ^ Report from Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine – Police Service of Northern Ireland v. McCaughey and Anor [2005] NICA 1 (14 January 2005)
- Evening Echo, 17 January 2007. Retrieved on 8 February 2007
- General
- Unknown. "Notices". An Phoblacht. Retrieved 9 October 2003.