Killings of Nick Spanos and Stephen Melrose

Nick Spanos and Stephen Melrose were Australian tourists shot dead in Roermond, the Netherlands by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 27 May 1990, which stated it had mistaken them for off-duty British soldiers.

[6] Cars owned by British military personnel in Germany had distinctive number plates, which helped the IRA identify targets.

[11] The IRA expressed regret for the death and stated she had been shot "in the belief that she was a member of the British army garrison at Dortmund".

[13] Corporal Islania was hit by multiple rounds and died instantly; his daughter was killed by a single shot to the head.

They were in the Netherlands on a four-day holiday with Vicky Coss (Spanos's girlfriend) and Lyndal Melrose (Stephen's wife).

As they returned to their car,[1] at about 11pm, Spanos and Melrose were shot dead by two men clad in black with automatic weapons.

"[18] Five days after the attack, the IRA shot dead Michael Dillon-Lee, a British Army major, in Dortmund.

All three were acquitted as well, although Maguire was remanded and later convicted of taking part in bombing a British Army base in the Osnabrück mortar attack.

[21][22] Evidence also linked Desmond Grew, an IRA volunteer later shot dead by the Special Air Service, to the group.

They were greeted by Ulster Unionist Party MLA, David McNarry, but denied a meeting by both deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness and Sinn Féin President, Gerry Adams.

[24] Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Melrose's sister, Helen Jackson, said the refusals of McGuinness and Adams "spoke volumes".