A ruthless former IRA commander sensationally confessed to The Mail on Sunday that he was behind the murder of King Charles’ beloved great-uncle.
In a shocking admission that will cause Charles great pain, Michael Hayes cruelly boasted that he designed the explosive device that killed Lord Mountbatten and masterminded the atrocity.
Lord Mountbatten, mentor to Prince Philip and then Prince Charles, was killed aged 79 when the IRA blew up his pleasure boat while on holiday at his summer home in Co Sligo, on the west coast of the Republic of Ireland. in August. 1979.
Only one IRA member was convicted of this atrocity. Thomas McMahon was arrested on the day of the explosion and jailed for life, but later released under the Good Friday Agreement.
But now, after being approached by a Ministry of Justice journalist, Hayes boasted: “I blew up Earl Mountbatten.”
Michael Hayes (pictured) cruelly boasted that he designed the explosive device that killed Lord Mountbatten and planned the atrocity.
Hayes (pictured) said he had no regrets about killing Lord Mountbatten and coldly described the two teenagers who died as “victims of war”.
Lord Mountbatten, mentor to both Prince Philip and then Prince Charles, who was murdered aged 79.
His grandson Nicholas, aged 14, died alongside the count; Doreen Brabourne, 83, Nicholas’s grandmother; and crew member Paul Maxwell, 15, from Enniskillen.
Legal experts told the State Department this weekend that Hayes’ admission made him liable to be prosecuted for the murders, if Irish police and the Director of Public Prosecutions decided to pursue him.
Hayes said he had no regrets about killing Lord Mountbatten and coldly described the two teenagers who died as “victims of war”.
As Buckingham Palace refused to comment last night, Ian Paisley Jr, Democratic Unionist Party MP for North Antrim in Ulster, called on the Garda Síochána, the Republic of Ireland’s police service, to “immediately” investigate Hayes. .
“The sensational, shocking and chilling statement of a cold-blooded, confessed murderer should be immediately investigated by the police and the man brought to justice,” he said.
Queen Elizabeth II pictured chatting with Lord Louis Mountbatten at the Guards Polo Club on June 1, 1975.
The IRA blew up Mountbatten’s pleasure boat while on holiday at his summer home in Co Sligo, on the west coast of the Republic of Ireland. In the photo: the remains after the explosion.
Legal experts told the Ministry of Justice this weekend that Hayes’ admission made him liable to be prosecuted for the murders. Pictured: Part of the wreckage of Lord Mountbatten’s ship, the Shadow V, circa August 1979.
The brutal murder of Lord Mountbatten, whom the royal family knew affectionately as “Uncle Dickie”, deeply affected Charles. In his diary, the Prince of Wales, 31, wrote of “agony, disbelief, a kind of miserable numbness.” But in 2015, Charles showed forgiveness and shook hands with Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams after traveling to Ireland to see where Mountbatten died.
Hayes, a grandfather who lives alone in Dublin, was previously named as one of four men behind the IRA bombings in Birmingham in 1974 and has taken what he called “collective responsibility” for all the IRA’s actions in England.
But he had never before been linked to the murder of Lord Mountbatten and the other victims who died when a remote-controlled 50lb bomb pierced the hull of the Shadow V. Speaking to an MoS reporter, Hayes revealed that he was the “officer behind “Command” by McMahon. ‘. He said: ‘Tom McMahon, he was just a participant. I am an expert in explosives, I am recognized. I trained in Libya. There I trained as an explosives expert.
When asked if he was saying he was the man who designed the bomb, he boasted: “Yes, I blew it up.” McMahon put it on his ship… I planned everything, I’m the commander in chief. ‘
Hayes has never before been linked to the murder of Lord Mountbatten and the other victims who died when a 50-pound remote-controlled bomb pierced the hull of the Shadow V. Pictured: Remains of the ship after the explosion.
The brutal murder of Lord Mountbatten (pictured), who was affectionately known to the Royal Family as ‘Uncle Dickie’, deeply affected Charles.
Prince Charles is pictured with Lord Louis Mountbatten at a polo match holding a pint of beer.
Earl Mountbatten’s coffin is carried during his funeral following his death at the age of 79.
An alleged IRA accomplice, Francis McGirl, was also arrested on the day of the attack, but was later acquitted. He died in a farming accident in 1995.
Hayes confirmed to the Ministry of Justice that he was also in County Sligo at the time of the attack, adding: “Francis McGirl did it wrong.” He blew up Earl Mountbatten in Sligo, but he had a justification: he had come to my country… Look at the famine… should we forget that? The black and tan ones? He came to my country and murdered my people and I defended myself. I hit them back.’
There is no bar to the prosecution of Troubles-era crimes and any immunity as part of the Good Friday Agreement only applies to convictions handed down for crimes that have been prosecuted in court. A legal source said: “This person (Hayes) could very reasonably be prosecuted…”
Asked whether detectives would investigate Hayes, a Garda spokesman said: “As a matter of public record, two people were prosecuted in relation to the murder of Lord Mountbatten. One person was acquitted and another served a prison sentence and subsequently was released in accordance with the Good Friday Agreement.’ But when asked if he feared prosecution, Hayes said: ‘No, I fought in a war, I was justified.’ Asked if he regretted the explosion, he said: ‘Blow up Mountbatten?’
But when asked about the two children killed that day, he responded: “Those children weren’t supposed to be on the ship in the first place.”
Although he sickeningly called the young people “victims of war,” he admitted: “Yes, I’m sorry, that wasn’t meant to happen.” I am a father. I’m not made of stone. I felt disgusted, I cried.’
Last night Mary Hornsey, 84, mother of young victim Paul Maxwell, said she would welcome a police investigation into Hayes’ claims “to see whether he was involved or not, whether he really was the commander who gave the order”.
He added: “I think we would need justice, not revenge.” Speaking of the loss of her son, he explained: “It’s something that never goes away.”
Conservative MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who served in Northern Ireland with the Scots Guards, also urged the Garda to investigate Hayes’ claim, adding: “It is important to get to the truth.”