Aidan McAnespie

David Holden, 53, shot dead 23-year-old Aidan McAnespie in Aughnacloy, County Tyrone, in 1988. He was found guilty of manslaughter in November last year.

The most important thing he wanted was to hear the truth. "We would have liked to see him get some sort of sentence, but it wasn't the be-all-and-end-all. We lost our father and sister in the duration of that. He didn't take that opportunity. "He (Holden) had a chance at the start of this trial to come out and tell the truth and to admit to what he done. He was found guilty of manslaughter in November last year. That would have been helpful." Speaking after the sentencing, he said: "We believe that the sentence today was extremely harsh, considering the passage of time and what David Holden has had to go through over the last number of years. As long as he was found guilty, that was the main thing." "Of all the areas he could have struck with a ricochet or otherwise, he managed to strike the very target of his surveillance." In his closing submission, Crown counsel Ciaran Murphy QC said: "The one person he was aware of and in whom he had an interest was Aidan McAnespie. During the trial, Holden confirmed he had previously checked Mr McAnespie's car registration and identified him as a "person of interest" to the security forces - a fact underlined by the prosecution.

A former soldier has been given a suspended sentence for killing a man at an army checkpoint in Northern Ireland more than 30 years ago.

He said: “Aidan was the youngest of the six McAnespie children. A representative of a veterans’ organisation described the sentence handed down to Holden as “extremely harsh”. That would have been helpful. “The judge was clear he had given a deliberately false version of events. He was on his way to a GAA club when he was shot in the back. Holden was convicted last year of the manslaughter of Aidan McAnespie in February 1988, the first veteran to be convicted of a historical offence in Northern Ireland since the peace agreement.

David Jonathan Holden, 53, was sentenced to three years at Belfast Crown Court this afternoon.

We lost our father and sister in the duration of that. The judge was clear he had given a deliberately false version of events. David Holden could have given an honest account of what happened that day but didn’t. “He (Holden) had a chance at the start of this trial to come out and tell the truth and admit what he done. He could have done so, even in the context contesting the case. He said that “finding a way forward on legacy issues is absolutely key to allowing veterans, many in the twilight of life, to hold their heads high and be proud of what they did to protect society”. Reacting to the sentencing today, Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner Danny Kinahan said the “security services stood as the protectors of all the people of Northern Ireland during the dark days of our Troubles”. “Many other soldiers and many other members of the security forces could also have been up in that court today,” he said. “We believe that the sentence today was extremely harsh, considering the passage of time and what David Holden has had to go through over the last number of years,” Young said. “The most important thing in this case is that David Holden has been found guilty of the unlawful killing of Aidan McAnespie,” Gormley said. Speaking outside the court today, Sean McAnespie, the brother of Aidan McAnespie, said his family had not wanted a “pound of flesh”, but “truth and justice”. “The suspended sentence is disappointing, but the most important point is that David Holden was found guilty of the unlawful killing of our brother Aidan.