Decision not to prosecute killer soldier overturned

Daniel Hegarty’s sister, Margaret Brady, says her family will keep fighting for justice after successfully challenging a decision not to prosecute the British soldier who killed Daniel in Derry in 1972.

Daniel was 15 when he was shot twice in the head by a soldier. In July 2021, Crown prosecutors announced they were halting the prosecution of Daniel’s killer, ‘Soldier B’.

The Court of Appeal this week quashed that decision. Speaking to reporters outside the court, Mrs Brady said she was delighted by the judgment and that her legal team welcomed the decision.

She said it was a very emotional day, with the family wanting to pursue the appeal “not out of revenge, not out of anger”.

“I thought this was going to go on for another year,” she said. “The lawmakers should respect the law that they’re representing.”

Mrs Brady said she now wished for the soldier to be prosecuted. Following Thursday’s ruling, prosecutors said they would take the “necessary time to consider the full detail of the written judgment”.

Daniel was shot during Operation Motorman, the name given to a huge military operation by the British Army to reclaim areas under IRA control in towns and cities across the North. Daniel’s cousin, Christopher Hegarty, who was 16, was wounded in the same incident.

In 2011, an inquest jury unanimously found Daniel posed no risk and had been shot without warning. An initial inquest had been held in 1973 and recorded an open verdict.

In 2007, the London government was forced to apologise to the Hegarty family for describing Daniel as a “terrorist”.

The ruling comes as the London government is continuing to move legislation through Westminster to end prosecutions, inquests, and other conflict-related investigations. The bill is opposed by groups representing bereaved families and victims who believe the bill to be merely a large-scale cover-up of Britain’s war crimes.

Urgent Appeal