Soldier wanted to ‘waste somebody’, inquest hears of teen’s death in 1975

An Army veteran has told an inquest a soldier at the scene when a teenager was shot dead in west Belfast spoke of wanting to “waste somebody” shortly beforehand.

Leo Norney, 17, was killed in disputed circumstances in the Turf Lodge area in September 1975.

Soldiers from The Black Watch regiment said he was a gunman who had opened fire on them.

But people in the area said he was an innocent victim of an unprovoked attack.

The original inquest in 1976 returned an open verdict.

An Army veteran, referred to as M2, yesterday told an inquest in Banbridge, County Down, he had falsified his previous statements and his patrol had not been fired on the day Leo was killed.

The witness said he wanted Leo’s family to know the truth about what happened more than 40 years ago.

The bulk of his evidence centred around the actions of Corporal John Ross MacKay, who died in 2015.

M2 said that after an attack on the soldiers’ base in which no one was injured, he returned to his room.

Two other soldiers, referred to as M1 and M3, were there with Cpl MacKay.

In a statement to the inquest, read out by counsel for the coroner Ian Skelt, M2 said: “I recall him telling me that we were going to waste somebody tonight.” He added: “I immediately responded by saying I would not be involved in what he was suggesting and that he must be mad.”

Asked by Mr Skelt to explain what he understood Cpl MacKay to mean, M2 said: “I took it he was going to harm somebody, maybe kill them.”

The witness described his position at a security fence in west Belfast.

He saw Cpl MacKay fire his rifle towards an area known as Shepherd’s Path.

M2 said Cpl MacKay fired two quick shots, followed by several further shots.

He did not recall hearing or seeing any other gunshots before Cpl MacKay fired his rounds.

M2 was ordered to take cover at waste ground and hearing a person groaning from the direction of Shepherd’s Path.

The witness saw a soldier, who he believed was Cpl MacKay, point his rifle at the ground and fire one round.

He did not see a body but believed the bullet struck the concrete path.

M2 said he recalled hearing Cpl MacKay kicking an unseen object on the ground.