Murder-bid in Donagh
Ten years ago, on 15 December 1972, the nationalist
community in Fermanagh was shocked to learn of the
brutal murder of Louis Leonard, whose body was found
locked up in a fridge in his Derrylin butcher's shop.
The fact that nobody was ever charged with his murder
strengthened local suspicions that members of the RUC
or UDR were involved.
Almost exactly a decade later, on Wednesday 29 December
1982, history nearly repeated itself when Kieran
Leonard, a 25-year-old brother of Louis, was shot and
wounded by British troops close to his home. The fact
that he survived this attempt on his life was due less
to the merciful nature of his assailants than to the
close proximity of a neighbour.
The Leonard family home is close to the village of
Donagh, in a staunchly republican area of the county.
Like many other families in the locality, the Leonards
have suffered regular searches, arrests, interrogation
and imprisonment by the British. It came as no great
surprise, therefore, that the shoot-to-kill policy
employed in other areas should be introduced to Donagh.
Initial reports by the media about the incident were,
as ever in such instances, inaccurate and misleading.
These claimed that a man had been shot and three others
arrested in Roslea, seven miles away. Soldiers had, we
were told, been examining wires running along a ditch,
had seen a man acting suspiciously, and shouted a
warning, and then shot the man as he ran away.
Phoblacht 6 January 1983
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/aprn.gif)