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coarse and foul language involving anti-Catholic ex-
pressions were used in ordering them to do the exercises.
They also alleged deliberate delay in permitting de-
tainees to go to the lavatory and also blows and kicks
and the handcuffing of a detainee Gregory Greaney.
They also described detainees moaning, symptoms of
general distress and gave incidents of people collapsing,
including the plaintiff himself. They also alleged being
made to "run on the spot" and to do movement "at
the double." "Indeed there was no real effort made to
contradict evidence that people had to move on the
double and that there was the aura of compulsion and
authority in going to latrines : the wash and interroga-
tion running on-the-spot was conceded by Corporal
Graham," the judge said.
Turning to how the exercises were initiated, the judge
said that the military witnesses gave evidence in the
absence of each other, as did some of the plaintiff's
witnesses. Three army witnesses, Lieutenant Barton,
Sergeant Smith and Corporal Robert Melville Graham
gave three conflicting accounts. Judge Gonaghan said :
'I have come to the conclusion that all three are telling
lies about this matter. It is also inconceivable the detail
of so important an operation would be left to work itself
out haphazardly."
Army witnesses lying
From further replies of Lieut. Barton's, the judge
said he gathered that there was truth in the allegation
that the men were obliged to face the wall and were
not allowed to look around or have visual communi-
cation with each other any more than verbal.
The army witnesses had denied that harsh words or
action or certain of the alleged actions had taken place.
They admitted other exercises including press-ups.
Delays in escorting people to the latrines were attri-
buted by the defendants to a shortage of personnel.
After referring to other parts of Lieut. Barton's
evidence, Judge Conaghan commented : "It seems to
nie, therefore, that he left the conduct of the huts to
bis own N.C.O.s, abandoned responsibility himself,
even for putting on or removing handcuffs . . . ".
He later stated : "I cannot cover all of his (Lieut.
Barton's) evidence, but from the foregoing it will be
seen that one could not confidently rely upon his
evidence to refute the complaint of over exercise,
°bscenity and complaints generally made by the plains
fiff and his witness."
Army doctor indicted
Judge Conaghan then turned to the evidence of
Captain Dr. David Plant who examined the detainees
a t
Ballykinlar. His evidence was that on the Monday
|be men were tired, and on Tuesday were more tired,
but he would not accept phrases such as "exhausted"
0 r
"prostrate" or any colourful word or that the men
showed signs of having been the subject of cruelty or
ul-treatment.
Examining other aspects of the doctor's evidence,
Judge Gonaghan recalled that the witness withdrew a
statement that he had seen men moving about outside
l
be huts to latrines and also "going to food, I think,"
a
fter it was pointed out to him that there had been
unchallenged evidence that the men. had all been fed
w
bere they were confined. Dr. Plant had also given
different answers when asked if he knew the
detainees were going to be interrogated. The judge
said : "Perhaps these are just slips but they may very
^ell not be and should not appear in the evidence of
a
doctor."
After again referring to the doctor's evidence on
several points, Judge Conaghan said : "I certainly would
not reject the events described in paragraph 27 as
exagerated or dishonest on the evidence of Dr. Plant,
especially as the defendants have access to persons who
could give more evidence concerning this incident, but
who were not produced at the trial."
The judge was referring to a paragraph in Moore's
affidavit in which he had alleged that an. M.P. held
a sheath knife at his throat telling him "I'll cut your
fucking Pope head throat." The doctor had come in
and pulled the M.P. off Moore. He then complained
about his being roused from bed to treat "these boys
conking out."
Story not invented by defendant
The judge continued : "Moreover, it is very difficult
to see how the plaintiff could have invented or would
dare to invent a story as circumstantial as that set
forth in his affidavit. Whether or not the detail of the
incident is exaggerated. I take the view that, in so far
as this incident be admitted, it corroborates the many
allegations of the continuity and intensity of the
exercise which the men in the huts were asked to carry
out and that Dr. Plant, unless the plaintiff's version be
untrue, was prepared to ask no questions about how
the men had been or would be treated : in short, he has
shut his eyes, or thinks the matter should not be pur-
sued."
The judge said that the plaintiff's case was not borne
out by evidence from the two doctors who received the
men when they were moved from Ballykinlar to the
Maidstone since neither of them supported Moore's
allegation that his buttocks were then raw and blistered
and that he was in an. anxiety state. Even if the
plaintiff had exaggerated about the alleged sores and
his anxiety state, it still would not mean that his case
should fail because they were only relevant to the issue
of damage.
No complaint to "Maidstone" doctors
Referring to the evidence of the two doctors, Judge
Gonaghan said that they had asked each person : "Have
you any history of operation, or recent illness? As far as
you know are you in good health at the moment?"
He said : "Having regard to what admittedly went
on in Ballykinlar, and having regard to the fact that
Superintendent Magill said that admitted constant
exercises ought not to have been tolerated, and having
regard to the fact that prisoners did have a bad time
and their complaints had not received much attention,
I do not fault anybody who failed to make a complaint
to either doctor on Maidstone, persons from whom
they had no reason to expect any better treatment than
that which they had already received. Moreover, I do
not think that I should attach any weight to an entry
of "No complaints" in documents where no complaint
was expressly invited, nor do I infer from the fact of
no complaint was expressly invited, nor do I infer
from the fact of no complaints having been written in
a document that no matter of complaint had actually
arisen. It was, quite simply, the doctors, as a matter
of practice recording factually what happened."
Deafening silence about hut conditions
The judge later went on to say : "There is a deafening
silence from the R.U.C. generally and anybody of army
rank higher than Lieutenant Barton (who admits he is
the senior officer referred to in paragraph 152 of the
Compton Report) as to what went on. in the huts and
89