Daniel Hegarty: Veteran accused of teenager's death dies

Daniel Hegarty was shot dead in 1972

A former soldier accused of killing a Londonderry teenager more than 50 years ago has died.

Relatives of 15-year-old Daniel Hegarty were informed of the death of the veteran, known as Soldier B, by the Public Prosecution Service (PPS).

He was facing the prospect of being prosecuted for shooting the teenager in the Creggan area of Derry.

Daniel's cousin Christopher, who was wounded in the incident, said he would "never forget it".

Daniel Hegarty was shot on 31 July 1972 during Operation Motorman, the name given to a military operation by the Army to reclaim "no-go areas" set up by republican paramilitaries in towns and cities across Northern Ireland.

Christopher Hegarty was 16 at the time.

Speaking to BBC News NI he said he would never forget his cousin's death.

"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."

It is understood Solidier B died on Thursday.

His death, ends the family's hope "of getting him prosecuted," Mr Hegarty said.

Operation Motorman was then the largest British military operation since the Suez Crisis of 1956

Daniel's sister Margaret Brady told BBC News NI the family pray God forgives the former soldier.

She said she was "in total shock" when the PPS notified her of the soldier's death on Friday.

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

"And we were granted it - not once, not twice, but three times.

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

The PPS said it "strongly refutes any suggestion" it acted to delay the former soldier's prosecution.

The Hegarty family said "they took no delight" in Soldier B's death

In July 2021, the PPS announced that it was dropping the case against Soldier B.

But that decision was challenged by the family and it was quashed by the Court of Appeal in June.

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.

The second inquest was ordered by the Northern Ireland attorney general in 2009 after an examination by police detectives in the Historical Enquiries Team.

In 2007 the UK government apologised to the Hegarty family for describing Daniel as a terrorist.

'Complex and challenging'

The Director of Public Prosecutions, Stephen Herron said the death of a defendant meant it was "the end of any potential prosecution in relation to them".

He added: "We strongly refute any suggestion that the PPS acted contrary to the administration of justice or sought to improperly stop or delay any prosecution of Soldier B.

"I appreciate that this is an extremely difficult time for the family of Daniel Hegarty who have hoped and campaigned for many decades to see a criminal justice outcome in this case," he said.

Decision making in the case against Soldier B, he added, was both "complex and challenging".

It was further complicated, he said, "by relevant evidential and public interest considerations".

"These resulted in a series of judicial review challenges to decisions that were taken and we recognise the additional distress caused to the Hegarty family by the protracted nature of the various sets of legal proceedings," Mr Herron said.

Foyle MP Colum Eastwood said the Hegarty family had shown "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," the SDLP leader said.