British soldiers were watching the McAliskey home at the time, but they failed to prevent the assassination attempt. It has been claimed that Devlin's assassination was ordered by British authorities and that collusion was a factor. An army patrol of the 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment entered the house and waited for half an hour. Devlin has claimed they were waiting for the couple to die. Another group of soldiers then arrived and transported her by helicopter to a nearby hospital.