William J. Staunton

{{Short description|British resident magistrate killed by the IRA}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}

{{Infobox person

| name = William J. Staunton

| birth_date = {{birth year|1928}}

| death_date = {{death date|1973|1|25|df=yes}} (age 46)

| death_place = Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, Northern Ireland

| death_cause = Shot by members of the Irish Republican Army

| nationality = British

| occupation = Resident magistrate

}}

William J. Staunton (1928 – 25 January 1973{{Cite news|date=May 9, 2007|title=3,722 lives lost - the price of peace in a divided island|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/3-722-lives-lost-the-price-of-peace-in-a-divided-island-1.1204985|access-date=2020-11-15|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en|quote=1973 [...] January [...] 25th: William Staunton - West Belfast.}}) was a British resident magistrate killed by the Provisional IRA.{{cite web|date=10 November 2009|title=Protection For NI Judges Increased | Northern Ireland News|url=http://www.4ni.co.uk/northern_ireland_news.asp?id=102424|access-date=2016-02-27|website=4ni.co.uk}}

Staunton was a Roman Catholic member of the judiciary.{{Cite news|date=1974-09-17|title=2 JUDGES KILLED BY I.R.A. GUNMEN|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/09/17/archives/2-judges-killed-by-ira-gunmen-of-two-men-shot-in-their-belfast.html|access-date=2020-11-15|issn=0362-4331}} Shortly before 9 AM on the morning of 11 October 1972, he was driving his daughters and her school friends to St. Dominic's Convent Grammar School, on the Falls Road, Belfast. He stopped the car outside St. Dominic's and the girls got out. As they did so, two members of the IRA upon a motorcycle came alongside the car, the pillion passenger shooting Staunton.{{cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199899/cmhansrd/vo990520/text/90520w02.htm |title=House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 20 May 1999 (pt 2) |website=Publications.parliament.uk |access-date=2016-02-27}}{{Cite journal |last=McGarry |first=Philip |date=May 2015 |title=The fortunes of the legal and medical professions during the "Troubles"--Presentation to The Northern Ireland Medicolegal Society - October 14 2014 |journal=The Ulster Medical Journal |volume=84 |issue=2 |pages=119–123 |issn=2046-4207 |pmc=4488917 |pmid=26170490}}

He underwent emergency surgery at the Royal Victoria Hospital, and he never regained consciousness until his death on 25 January 1973.{{Cite web |title=House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 20 May 1999 (pt 2) |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199899/cmhansrd/vo990520/text/90520w02.htm |access-date=2025-04-14 |website=publications.parliament.uk}} He died aged 46.{{cite web |last=Sutton |first=Michael |title=CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths (1973) |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1973.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180311001204/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1973.html |archive-date=2018-03-11 |access-date=2016-02-27 |website=Ulster University}}

Staunton was the first of a number of judges killed or attacked by the IRA during the 1970s and 1980s. Others included Rory Conaghan and Martin McBirney in 1974, William Doyle in 1983, and Lord Justice Sir Maurice Gibson in 1987. The IRA were also responsible for the deaths of Lord Justice Gibson's wife Cecily, and Mary Travers (a daughter of Judge Tom Travers), shot alongside her father after leaving a Catholic church.