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McCANN AND OTHERS v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT
suggested that either the entire body or at least the upper part of the body
was turned towards the shooter. A reasonable scenario consistent with the
wounds was that she received the shots to the face while facing the shooter,
then fell away and received the shots to the back. Professor Watson agreed
that the upward trajectory of the bullets that hit Farrell indicated that she
was going down or was down when she received them. Altogether she had
been shot eight times.
109. Concerning McCann, he had been shot in the back twice and had
three wounds in the head. The wound on the top of the head suggested that
the chest wounds came before the head wound and that he was down or very
far down when it was inflicted. The shots to the body were at about a 45degree angle. He had been hit by five bullets. 110. Concerning Savage, he
had been hit by sixteen bullets. He had seven wounds to the head and neck,
five on the front of the chest, five on the back of the chest, one on the top of
each shoulder, three in the abdomen, two in the left leg, two in the right arm
and two on the left hand. The position of the entry wounds suggested that
some of the wounds were received facing the shooter. But the wounds in the
chest had entered at the back of the chest. Professor Watson agreed that
Savage was "riddled with bullets" and that "it was like a frenzied attack".
He agreed that it would be reasonable to suppose from the strike marks on
the pavement that bullets were fired into Savage’s head as he lay on the
ground. Professor Pounder also agreed that the evidence from strike marks
on the ground and the angle and state of wounds indicated that Savage was
struck by bullets when lying on his back on the ground by a person shooting
standing towards his feet. He insisted under examination by counsel for the
soldiers that the three strike marks on the ground within the chalk outline
corresponded with wounds to the head. In his view "those wounds must
have been inflicted when either the head was on the ground or very close to
the ground indeed" and when pressed "within inches of the ground". 2.
Forensic evidence at the inquest
111. A forensic scientist specialising in firearms had examined the
clothing of the three deceased for, inter alia, powder deposits which would
indicate that shots had been fired at close range. He found signs of partly
burnt propellant powder on the upper-right back of Farrell’s jacket and
upper-left front of Savage’s shirt which suggested close-range firing. He
conducted tests which indicated that such a result was only obtained with a
Browning pistol at a range of up to six feet. The density on Farrell’s jacket
indicated a muzzle-to-target range of three feet and on Savage’s shirt of four
to six feet.
3. Evidence relating to detonation devices
112. Issues arose at the inquest as to whether, even if the three suspects
had been carrying remote-control devices, they would have been able to
detonate the suspected bomb which was approximately 1.4 km from the