Former Veterans’ Minister Johnny Mercer believes an inquest ruling which said SAS soldiers were not justified in opening fire and killing a gang of IRA men, is “ridiculous” and “a farce”.

Kevin Barry O’Donnell, Sean O’Farrell, Peter Clancy, and Patrick Vincent died in February 1992, minutes after they had carried out a gun attack on Coalisland police station.

On Thursday, an inquest ruled the use of lethal force by SAS soldiers was not justified when they opened fire killing four IRA men in an ambush at Clonoe in County Tyrone.

Sinn Féin MP for Mid Ulster Cathal Mallaghan said he believed the ruling showed a “shoot to kill policy” was enacted.

The soldiers opened fire as the men arrived at St Patrick’s Church car park in a hijacked lorry which had a heavy machine gun welded to its tailgate.

Security forces had intelligence the car park would be used and 12 soldiers were in position behind a hedgerow.

Solicitors acting for their families say they are considering the verdict with regards to the possibility of prosecutions.

Johnny Mercer is a former Conservative MP and former UK Veterans’ Minister.

He told BBC programme Good Morning Ulster the inquest ruling makes Northern Ireland and the judicial system “look ridiculous”.

“I’ve sat through some of these cases and it’s a farce. It’s really sad because it not only destroys the lives of these veterans,” he said.

“At same time it doesn’t provide any answers whatsoever to anybody.

“The process is a joke,” he said, adding, “it’s an effort to settle scores.. to rewrite the history of the Troubles and it’s a hell of a lot of money for the legal participants”.

“It does nothing for truth and justice,” he said.

However Mark Thompson from the campaign group Relatives for Justice told Good Morning Ulster that Mr Mercer has “made a career out of defending indefensible actions of the British Army”.

“The story is here that the UK government who was condemning the actions of the republicans and other organisations was engaging for itself in the very actions that it was condemning”, he said.

“It [the UK government] was engaging in a pre-planned, premeditated ambush and assassination with impunity and that is despicable.”

He added that Friday was an important day for society, the British government, the British military and “all of these people who seek to demonise and vilify families, to reflect”.

DUP MP for East Londonderry Gregory Campbell said on Friday the inquest ruling did not take in the context for which the soldiers were deployed.

“Whenever these four terrorists went to Coalisland police station they went to kill innocent people – that was the reason for their mission and the coroner doesn’t seem to have taken account of that context,” he said.

Sinn Féin MP Mr Mallaghan said the inquest hearing “reinforces” that the shoot to kill policy was enacted by the soldiers.

“For some politicians they are in denial about the role of the state and as judgements and decisions like these are issued, we now find out the evidence that in many incidents the shoot to kill was a policy used by the state,” he said.