Ex-soldier to face trial for 1972 Derry boy’s killing
The veteran, identified as “Soldier B”, will face the charge of murdering 15-year-old Daniel Hegarty in the Creggan area of Derry, prosecutors have announced.
He will also be charged with wounding with intent in the case of the teenager’s cousin, Christopher Hegarty, then aged 17, who was shot and injured in the incident.
The shootings occurred on July 31, 1972, during Operation Motorman, when thousands of troops were deployed into Derry and Belfast to break into socalled no-go areas – republican districts where the security forces could not previously enter.
The Hegarty family, who have been campaigning for decades for the soldier to be prosecuted for the killing, last year won the right to seek his prosecution after
the high court quashed a Public Prosecution Service (PPS) decision not to bring criminal charges against him.
Members of the family were informed of the decision to launch the prosecution at a private meeting yesterday with Stephen Herron, the director of public prosecutions for Northern Ireland.
Herron said in a statement that he had conducted a review of the case based on all available evidence and had given particular consideration to Soldier B’s ill health, after seeing an updated medical report.
The review included material obtained in the course of the initial investigation and by a later investigation carried out by the Historical Enquiries Team, a police unit set up to investigate unsolved murders during Northern Ireland’s Troubles. It also drew on material generated by inquest proceedings and a number of expert forensic reports, including one provided after the court ruling in 2018.
“I have concluded that the evidence which can be presented at court is sufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction and that the evidential test for prosecution is met,” Herron added.
“As with all cases, I have also carefully considered whether the public interest requires prosecution through the courts.
“In line with our Code for Prosecutors, I have concluded, given the seriousness of the charges, that the public interest test for prosecution is also met.” The British government apologised in 2007 to the Hegarty family for previously describing the teenager as a terrorist.
A ministry of defence spokesperson said: “We note the decision taken by the Northern Ireland Public Prosecution Service, and we will offer full legal and pastoral support to the individual affected.”