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PPS urged to 'think hard' about victims' families

Catherine McGinty, 28 Sep

Relatives of a Derry teenager shot and killed by a British soldier over

50 years ago has urged the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) to “think

hard” about what it was doing to victim’s families.

[INS: :INS]

The soldier acussed of shooting Daniel Hegarty passed away last week,

leaving the Hegarty family in legal limbo.

Daniel was 15 at the time he was shot twice in the head at an army

patrol in the Creggan area during Operation Motorman.

Following the revealation of the death of Soldier B, the family said

they have now been denied justice.

Speaking to Derry News on Wednesday, Daniel’s sister, Margaret (Brady)

said the whole family was still in shock. Margaret received the call

from the PPS at 5pm on Friday, completely out of the blue.

“We can’t believe it. We weren’t expecting that news. We thought we

were getting a phone call to say they were bringing him to court. The

last thing I expected to hear was he had passed away. May God have

mercy on him,” said Margaret.

According to Margaret, the PPS has told her the case is over.

“They said there will be no prosecution,” said Margaret, “but

technically, there was another soldier involved when Daniel was

murdered.

“There were two statements handed in in 1973 by Soldier A and Soldier

B. When we asked about this Soldier A, they actually told me they don’t

know where he is. They don't even know if he is dead.

“So, we feel Soldier A has definitely got questions to answer. He could

shed more light on Daniel’s case. I have already asked the authorities

where Soldier A is. I remember Mr Lecky [former coroner] God rest him

actually saying, ‘Did Soldier A fall off planet earth?’

“They are saying they don’t know where he is but yet they have all of

these soldiers in the Ballymurphy Inquest and the Bloody Sunday Inquiry

but they can’t get one soldier to come forward and say, ‘This is what

happened that day’.”

Margaret said she had repeatedly asked about Soldier A yet she feels

the authorities never even went and checked whether he was living or

dead.

“They should be doing that now,” said Margaret. “That man might want to

clear his conscience.”

Margaret added that the PPS needed to “think hard” about what it was

doing to victim’s families.

She said: “They are part of this and they denied us justice and they

can word it whatever way they want in the media, they can wrap it a

bow, but they know, they have done it from the day Daniel was murdered,

they have helped to cover it up. They have helped to protect those who

did it.

“They need to stop doing it. Stop putting families through hell. It is

the families who are suffering. Families have done no wrong. They are

asking justifiable questions but they are being treated like

criminals.

“There is an attitude from the authorities of ‘How dare you ask us to

do this for you. Get over your brother’s death’. It is totally wrong

what they are doing. They will answer too for covering this murder up.”

Des Doherty, the Hegarty family solicitor, told Derry News Daniel’s

case demonstrated a “massive blot on prosecutorial integrity” in this

jurisdiction.

He added: “There is now going to be an erosion of trust and respect for

the rule of law that Daniel’s family clung to.

“The conduct of the case is a horrifying miscarriage of justice and

institutional failure that requires scrutiny as a matter of urgent

public importance.”

In a statement released on Tuesday afternoon, the Hegarty family said:

“The behaviour of the PPS amounts to nothing more than deliberate and

crass maladministration at the highest levels from 1973 to 2023.

“They acted unlawfully, protecting the interests of Soldier B, the

Ministry of Defence and the British Army. A number of critical

judgements from senior judges here confirm the unlawfulness of the

actions of the PPS.

"The effect of all this is to make a mockery of justice, the rule of

law, state accountability, fairness and due process.

"The behaviour of the PPS has been described by senior judges as

‘irrational.’ To us it was all deliberate and by design. They never

really wanted to prosecute Soldier B for murdering a child. They had to

be dragged by us to that position during the course of almost 15 years

of painful litigation.”

Meanwhile, the Hegarty’s have offered and attended a Mass for the

repose of the soul of the British soldier who murdered their brother.

The Mass took place in St Mary’s Church in Creggan on Wednesday.

Daniel’s cousin Thomas also got a Mass said for Soldier B in

Manchester.

Thomas and his brother Christopher were with Daniel on the day.

Christopher was shot in the head and survived and Thomas was dragged

away by the British army.

Margaret said: “At the end of the day, you can’t speak ill of the dead.

I never would anyway.

“I don’t know if the man ever prayed but if he did and his prayers were

from his heart, who is to say God didn’t forgive him and let him into

heaven.

“We pray that he is forgiven and that’s the way I feel about it. We are

all sinners so we have to show a bit of compassion and a bit of

forgiveness.”