A blazing row with his wife saved a young British soldier from being killed or seriously injured by dissident republican gunmen, it emerged at the Massereene murder trial this week.
Antrim Crown Court heard how one soldier didn't go with his friends to collect pizzas at the barracks' gates because he was arguing with his wife on the telephone at the time.
Minutes later, two of his comrades, Mark Quinsey (23) and Patrick Azimkar (21), died in a hail of bullets and two others were seriously injured.
Entering the courthouse was like stepping back in time. Gone was the shiny, new Northern Ireland of the MTV awards. Here were sobbing, heartbroken relatives of dead soldiers; accusations of a frame-up from the accused; and harrowing accounts of the last moments of dying victims.
A ring of steel surrounded the building with stringent search procedures for visitors. Dozens of police stood outside. The cramped, provincial courtroom meant both sides were cheek-by-jowl. It was too small a place for such big emotions. At times, the raw tension and claustrophobia were over-powering.
Colin Duffy (43) and Brian Shivers (46), accused of the double murder, sat in a narrow glass box a few feet from the sappers' families. The bereaved mothers – Pamela Brankin and Geraldine Azimkar – snatched the odd glance at them but neither man looked their way.
When Pamela started crying as details of her son's horrific death emerged, Geraldine held her hand. Soon, it was Geraldine's turn for torment. Richard Marshall, the only sapper uninjured in the attack, described hearing Patrick Azimkar making strange noises as he lay dying on the ground.
"He was in pain. There was blood everywhere," the soldier recalled. Deeply distressed, Geraldine left the court. After giving evidence, Marshall went to Geraldine and her husband Mehmet and hugged them.
The political divisions at the trial were obvious. Half the courtroom – the soldiers' families and the police – wore poppies. The other half – relatives and friends of Duffy and Shivers – didn't.
Extremely thin with a long, unkempt beard from the prisoners' protest in Maghaberry, Duffy looked like a hermit who had been living in a cave for decades. Wearing a grey jacket, his drab appearance was lifted only by his gold watch and wedding ring. He listened intently to proceedings, constantly stroking his beard.
Shivers was in another zone. He looked dazed and in pain. He has cystic fibrosis but it was heavy medication for a back problem which caused him to fall asleep during proceedings. He started snoring. A policeman woke him and he was taken to a side room, clearly disorientated. The judge granted permission for him to leave the court for short intervals.
Former H-Block blanketman, Alex McCrory, and another ex-Provisional IRA prisoner, Brendan Conway, were among those in court to support Duffy and Shivers.
The three surviving soldiers gave their evidence calmly and with dignity, though at times their voices wavered with emotion. Richard Marshall recalled the five friends strolling outside the base.
"I went to take the pizza when I heard a loud bang. I saw a figure in dark clothing. He had an automatic rifle. I shouted for everyone to get down," Marshall said. He managed to run back into the base. Security at Massereene was appallingly inadequate.
Marshall found a civilian guard hiding under a table in the sangar with a pistol in his hand: "He was on the floor with his hands over his ears, under the desk, crying." Sapper Mark Fitzpatrick told how he was mown down in the initial burst of gunfire with Patrick Azimkar falling on top of him.
Somehow, Fitzpatrick crawled into a pizza car. Looking out, he saw "a guy in a balaclava shooting my friend. (He) wanted to cause damage. There was no remorse. He knew what he was doing."
The gunman spied Fitzpatrick and fired into the car. Half the soldier's hand was blown away. He was shot in the head and "thought the side of my face had come off." Bullets punctured his lung and ripped chunks of flesh from one arm, exposing the bone.
Under cross-examination, Fitzpatrick admitted telling police he believed the gunman was over six foot tall – which Duffy isn't. He also had thought his assailant was in his 20s or early 30s.
While, recently defected ex-Provisional IRA members were involved in the attack, the guns were supplied by the Real IRA. One had been used in attacks on Randalstown and Derry's Strand Road police stations in 2004.
The court fell silent when harrowing footage of the 34 second attack with balaclava-clad gunmen, dressed in black, emerging from the darkness to open up on the unsuspecting soldiers.
Polish pizza delivery driver Marcin Wietrzynski passed out. Speaking through an interpreter, he described waking up realising he'd been shot: "I got hit in my hands and back. I'd my legs broken. My whole body was sore."
Tears streamed down Mark Quinsey's mother's face as she heard of frantic efforts to save his life. Paramedic Thomas McCauley told how Quinsey's comrades travelled in the ambulance trying to stem the flow of blood from his neck while other soldiers kept telling him to live.
The gunmen's getaway green Vauxhall Cavalier was bought for £400 through a newspaper ad. The vendor gave the buyer £20 back as "a lucky tip". In a weird coincidence, the vehicle's registration number – 7309 – was the exact date of the Massereene attack, 7th March 2009.
The man who bought the car was later captured on CCTV filling up the vehicle at a petrol station. Footage played in court clearly showed his identity. He was arrested by police but never charged. Duffy's lawyers asked why their client was prosecuted when this man wasn't.
The gunmen's bungled attempt to burn their getaway car meant items were left behind. These included a mobile phone on which the dissidents accidentally recorded themselves talking.
"There was a few dead all right," one man says. Another chillingly adds: "You boys were as cool as f***." Analysis showed neither voice was Duffy's nor Shivers'.
The court saw CCTV footage of Shivers' Mercedes coupe in Maghera town centre – 19 minutes before the Massereene attack – allegedly followed three cars back by the gunmen's car. The Sunday World understands the defence will argue it was another green Vauxhall and not that used by the murder team. The trial continues.
