Deny, Delay and Hope You Die - death of Military Reaction Force (MRF) killer highlights Britain's strategy to thwart justice yet again.
Another infamous British Army murderer and member of Britain’s killer gang, the Military Reaction Force (MRF) has died and will be cremated in Perth, Scotland, this Friday (14th August 2026), so we can name him as he has escaped earthly justice. Paper Trail recorded his name in secret British Army files it discovered and presented to historic investigators and the legal teams of the victims and their families many years ago.
Harry [Henry C] Kinloch – The Chin – was seconded to MRF from the 2nd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment in 1972. 2 PARA, along with 1 PARA, murdered 11 unarmed civilians during the Ballymurphy Massacre of August 1971. Following British military service he retired with his wife, Edith, to the quaint Scottish village of Minathort, north of Kinross.
Kinloch murdered father of 6, Patrick McVeigh, just past midnight on 13th May 1972. His partner in murder that night was another infamous British Army killer who went to his grave in 2022, Clive Graham Williams.
Patrick was 44 years of age when the killers shot him in the back while he was chatting with friends and neighbours at the junction of Riverdale Park South and Finaghy Road North, West Belfast. Four of his neighbours were hit also but they survived.
From an unmarked car, the MRF killers sprayed the unarmed civilians with submachine gun and hand gun fire. They then lied to investigators that the innocent men had fired on them. In secret files discovered by Paper Trail may years ago, Kinloch and Williams alleged they fired upon 7 gunmen with 3 bursts of 4 submachine gun bullets and 6 from a 9mm pistol.
A few minutes before and nearby at Slievegallion, a covert mobile unit of the same MRF gang attacked another local group of Irish Catholic men, hitting and badly injuring unarmed teenager Eugene Devlin.
Due to the tireless campaigning and investigation of Pat’s daughter, Patricia – an inspiration to families across these islands who fight for truth and justice – we know that Kinloch was firing from the passenger seat and Williams from the back seat. We may assume this means that Williams fired the submachinegun which needed the greater movement of fire in the back seats and Kinlock used the 9mm handgun in their attempt at mass murder.
In February 2024, the Public Prosecution Service (PPS)(opens in new tab) issued its decisions relating to the MRF’s murders and attempted murders of Irish Catholic civilians in West Belfast in 1972.
One of these decisions was to prosecute Kinloch (recorded as Soldier F) for the murder of Patrick and the attempted murder of the 4 other victims. By that time we were told that Kinloch was suffering from dementia and may not have been able to stand trial (donations at the service are being directed to Dementia Scotland). Britain’s simple strategy for dealing with the legacy of its war crimes in Ireland – Deny, Delay and Hope You Die – succeeded yet again.
PPS Failure
The Director of the PPS in 1973 took the disgraceful decision not to prosecute the MRF killers of Patrick McVeigh despite the facts that it was clearly murder and attempted murder and Williams was in the middle of a highly publicised court case with Capt. Hamish McGregor regarding the attempted murder of the 4 unarmed civilians at Glen Road in June 1972, the month later.
Serious legal questions must be asked of the PPS why it failed to prosecute Williams and Kinlock for Patrick McVeigh’s murder then when it knew he and his fellow MRF gang members had form. The two files would have been sitting in front of them.
Instead, they all escaped justice. McGregor rose to the rank of Brigadier, Williams to Major, whilst Kinloch remained a Corporal throughout his 22 year career in 2 PARA, leaving in 1984.
The PPS in 2024 also issued its decision not to prosecute Kinloch for another shooting attack a fortnight later involving - yet again - himself and Williams on 26th May 1972.
In secret British Army Brigade logs discovered by Paper Trail, MRF alleged it had tailed a suspect vehicle and then gave chase. When it had stopped the vehicle, the MRF alleged its operative had produced an identity card and the vehicle took off again. When it stopped the vehicle a second time, the MRF alleged that two of the passengers in the back seat produced pistols and the MRF operative fired 1 bullet at the car as it again took off. Local people then accosted the MRF unit not realising it was a British Army covert unit, and Lance Corporal Kinloch[1], Sgt Williams and Sgt Hope had to be rescued by a uniformed patrol of the Royal Regiment of Wales after a police patrol allegedly refused to help them.
The MRF did not fire on the Loyalist crowd and took a battering. The crowd also swiped Williams’ 9mm pistol, and a bag containing a folder of info, a 9mm mag, a cosh, dagger, handcuffs and various tools.
The logs say the RUC took possession of Kinlock’s 9mm which may have been the gun he used in the murder of Patrick McVeigh and the attempted murder of his 4 friends.
A local man handed back most of the bag’s contents minutes later, minus the folder and handgun. He asked for a receipt. The Deputy Assistant Chief Constable reported to 39 Brigade HQ:
“Special Branch are investigating the loss of both pistol and folder and will contact Prot [Protestant] friends”. RUC got word through to friends indeed, as UDA killer, Davy Payne handed in the folder but not the handgun.
39 Brigade reported to HQNI:
“Re MRF incident, blue bag, (cosmetic outfit), red folder, pistol not yet recovered, bag and folder handed in by contact of SF [Security Forces]”
Later files record that the Loyalist crowd battered Kinlock and Williams so badly, that they were to be “detained possibly 3 days MPH [Musgrave Park Hospital].”
Williams was well enough to continue his shooting spree across West Belfast within weeks. What Kinloch did thereafter, we may never know. What we can say now was that he murdered one unarmed civilian at least, and attempted to murder another 4. That is no relief for Patrick McVeigh’s family and his other victims who have fought for a modicum of truth and justice from the British state for over 54 years. The British state and its justice system failed them and protected its own murderers.
Deny, Delay and Hope You Die - death of Military Reaction Force (MRF) killer highlights Britain's strategy to thwart justice yet again.
[1] Kinlock is recorded as Lance Corporal Kinlock and Corporal McKinlock in these logs.
