Leo Norney: Teen shot dead by Army was 'entirely innocent'

Leo Norney was 17 years old when he was shot dead by a soldier in west Belfast in 1975

An inquest has found a soldier shot dead an "entirely innocent" teenager in Belfast in 1975, and that his patrol concocted a story of being fired on to cover it up.

Leo Norney, 17, was "in the wrong place and the wrong time," the coroner added.

The soldier involved, Lance Corporal John Ross MacKay, died in 2015.

The inquest heard it had been his intention "to waste someone" on the night the shooting, in the Turf Lodge area of the city.

Coroner Patrick McGurgan described the killing as a "deliberate act" and said other soldiers gave false accounts of what had happened out of fear of LCpl MacKay.

Mc McGurgan also criticised the Ministry of Defence in his findings, adding that the soldier had posed a risk to the public.

He said LCpl MacKay had been convicted of a violent offence and served time in prison prior to Mr Norney's killing.

Counsel for the Norney family, Fiona Doherty KC, described the findings as "devastating".

'Deceit and lies'

In a statement read after the coroner made his ruling on Friday, Linda Norney, the victim's niece, said the family welcomed the inquest's findings.

She added the Army's narrative of the night Mr Norney was killed has been "exposed as deceit and lies".

"Leo was only a boy of 17," she said.

"Leo was not armed. He did not pose a threat to anyone. He was shot in cold blood and his shooting is unjustified.

"However, the British Army did not just kill Leo. They also murdered his good name.

"Later that night, after the soldiers returned to their base, they concocted a false story which blackened Leo's name for almost 50 years. They said that Leo was a gunman and that Leo had opened fire on them."

The family added that the court's findings had restored Mr Norney's good reputation but criticised the almost 50-year pursuit for answers.

An earlier inquest, held in 1976, had returned an open verdict.

Soldier 'violent and unpredictable'

At a previous hearing, a soldier who was at the scene when Mr Norney was killed, said LCpl MacKay wanted to "waste someone" after an attack on the soldiers' west Belfast base.

The witness, known as M2, said he had falsified his previous statements and wanted Mr Norney's family to know the truth.

During a statement, M2 described being at a security fence in Turf Lodge and glanced over to LCpl MacKay, who had fired his rifle towards an area known as Shepard's Path.

M2 said he did not recall hearing or seeing any other gunshots before LCpl MacKay fired.

He then heard a person groaning from the direction of Shepard's Path and a soldier, believed to be LCpl MacKay, pointed his rifle at the ground and fired one round, the court heard.

M2 told the hearing he did not see a body from his position but recalled hearing LCpl MacKay kicking an unseen object on the ground.

When asked by the coroner why he gave a false narrative of events, M2 said he was scared of LCpl MacKay, who was a "violent and unpredictable person".

"I had just seen what I had seen and I wasn't going to put myself in a position of going out on patrol with someone who had did that," he said.