British injustice for Daniel Hegarty

The death of a British soldier has ended a family’s campaign to win justice for a Derry teenager and expose the lies told about him.

Daniel Hegarty was shot twice in the head during Operation Motorman, a British military offensive to recapture nationalist areas of Derry in 1972.

In 2011 an inquest jury unanimously found Daniel posed no risk and had been shot without warning.

Daniel’s sister Margaret Brady told BBC News she was “in total shock” after Crown prosecutors told her of the soldier’s death on Friday, ending their effort to put him on trial.

The family has long campaigned to clear Daniel’s name and to have the soldier responsible held to account. It had repeatedly accused prosecutors of dragging out the case in order to protect the killer.

The family has long campaigned, she said, to clear Daniel’s name and to have the soldier responsible held to account.

A trial was granted by judges “not once, not twice, but three times”, she said.

“But the prosecutors dragged us back into court to get everything overturned, all to delay the soldier being prosecuted,” she said.

Daniel’s cousin Christopher, who was wounded in the gun attack, recalled the atrocity.

“I knew he was dead,” he said. “I put my arms around him and I pulled him into my chest. I just called his name. I’ll never forget it to this day.”

Foyle MP Colum Eastwood said there is “no victory for anyone” in this outcome.

“Families like the Hegartys deserve the truth and they deserve justice,” the SDLP leader said.

He said there had been institutional failings in the Hegarty case and that it showed the London government’s strategy for dealing with legacy issues would not work.

He added: “Daniel Hegarty was shot and killed more than 50 years ago. It is a damning indictment on this society that his family have had to fight a lifetime for truth, justice and accountability.

“And it is further evidence that the British Government’s approach to legacy, shutting down justice, will never work for those who have lost the most.

“There have been serious institutional failings in this case that have badly let the Hegarty family down. The PPS decision to drop the case in 2021 was a significant low and forced this family to fight again for their right to justice.

“The Hegarty family have again demonstrated grace in their response to this news. There is no victory for anyone in any of this.

“Families like the Hegartys deserve the truth and they deserve justice. That should be the focus of political leaders across these islands.”

The case is one of scores the British authorities have been accused of delaying until next May, when what they have branded as “vexatious” investigations into war crimes will be ended by new legislation to ‘draw a line’ under the conflict.

This week saw the London government accused in the Court of Appeal of manufacturing a “litany of delays” in responding to the requirement for a public inquiry into the murder of defence lawyer Pat Finucane in 1989. The Council of Europe called on Britain to reconsider the legislation and expressed “profound concern” over the Finucane case in particular.

The NI Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 will bar access to due process for grieving families.

And there were mixed feelings at the announcement of a new inquest for the family of schoolgirl, Martha Campbell, murdered by the British Army’s Kings Regiment 50 years ago.

A student at St Louise’s College, she was walking with a friend in the Springhill Crescent area on May 14 1972 when she was fatally injured. No one has ever claimed responsibility for her death.

In 2021, research charity Paper Trail uncovered evidence to show the British army fired 23 shots in the area when Martha died.

Pádraig Ó Muirigh, lawyer for the Campbell family, said it was “a bittersweet moment” for the Campbell family given that the new inquest they have been granted will be effectively guillotined.

There are grave doubts that the inquest, and others already underway. can reach a verdict by the ‘cut off point’ of May 1, 2024.

“Our office has lodged judicial review proceedings at the High Court in Belfast challenging the lawfulness of the Act and we will be making applications to the European Court of Human Rights in respect of this matter also in the coming weeks,” he said.

Tony Campbell, brother of Martha, said the family are “both happy and sad at this news”.

“We are happy that after all these years of fighting for the truth that we are finally granted a new inquest that could prove that Martha was murdered by the British Army and the circumstances of her death covered up,” he said.

“We are also sad that the British government has decided that our long struggle doesn’t matter as the door for truth and justice has been slammed in our face with the introduction of the new legacy legislation.

“We will continue our fight for what is right and seeing justice done in the courts.”

Urgent Appeal