A 15-year-old boy shot dead by the British army in Derry almost 40 years ago posed no risk, an inquest has found.
Daniel Hegarty was shot twice during Operation Motorman in July 1972 as the British army tried to clear “no-go” areas of the city. These were areas controlled by the IRA.
"Justice has been done, but at the end of the day this man [the soldier responsible] should be prosecuted," said Daniel's sister Margaret Brady, speaking afterwards. "I'm not out for revenge, I'm just out for the truth."
The family's solicitor, Des Doherty, said prosecutions were now a "definite possibility."
"The full rigor of the law has to be applied and it is now of course a matter for the coroner," the solicitor said. "This case was not about vengeance. It was about justice."
At the time of the shooting the British army claimed that warnings had been shouted at Daniel and his cousin Christopher, who was also shot but survived. However, the jury rejected the claims that warnings had been given before the teenagers were shot.
The jury also found that none of the soldiers attempted to "approach the injured youths to either search them or provide medical assistance."
The initial inquest into Daniel Hegarty's death was held in 1973 and recorded an open verdict. A second inquest was ordered by the North's Attorney General in 2009 following an examination by the PSNI's Historical Enquiries Team.
The report found that the RUC investigation at the time was "hopelessly inadequate and dreadful".
