Soldier who killed Daniel Hegarty dies

The British soldier who murdered Daniel Hegarty (15) has died.

Known as 'Soldier B' the man who murdered Daniel in Creggan during Operation Motorman (July 31, 1972) passed away on Thursday (September 31).

After extensive legal battles, Lord Justice Treacy, in the Court of Appeal in Belfast in June past, gave the verdict that, In Daniel's case, the decision to discontinue the prosecution of 'Soldier B' could not stand.

READ: Daniel Hegarty Soldier B prosecution decision in full

'The decision discontinuing the prosecution cannot stand' - Lord Justice Treacy

British soldier murdered Daniel and stepped over his body

Public Prosecution Service playing mind games with families – Margaret Brady

Following Lord Justice Treacy's judgement, the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) had 28 days to consider its position.

In a statement to Derry Now at the time, solicitor Desmond Doherty, who represents the Hegarty family said : "Daniel’s family have welcomed the Court of Appeal’s decision and expect the criminal process to continue in Derry."

On the 50th anniversary of Daniel's murder, his sister Margaret told Derry News: "They want to put their feet in my shoes and and walk our path and ask themselves, 'If it was my child, would I want less?'”

On that occasion, Margaret's husband, Hugh, revealed that the Director of Public Prosecutions said he could not explain how 'Soldier B' changed his story from saying initially he shot Daniel from a distance of 75 feet, to saying he shot him from a distance of six feet or possibly closer.

Hugh said: “In his first statement 'Soldier B' said the general purpose machine gun he used was mounted on the ground. He changed that in his second statement to say he had held the gun, which is capable of firing 800 rounds per minute.

“He fired four rounds, which showed he was an expert shot because that gun would have been extremely hard to control. Daniel was shot twice in the head and the bullet from the back of his head hit his cousin, Christopher [Hegarty], who he was with at the time. Christopher's brother, Thomas, who was also there, was dragged up the street. He did not if he was going to get back alive.

“Using the gun in a built up area like Creggan was illegal in itself,” said Hugh. 

After he murdered Daniel, 'Soldier B' stepped over him.

According to Margaret, he was taken back to Limavady to barracks. He got a sleeping bag and he went in and slept for a couple of hours.

“This is a man that murdered a child and he is able to go and grab a sleeping bag and go to sleep for a couple of hours. What kind of human being is he that he could go and do that and my brother lying dead? 

“He never even assisted Daniel, to see if he was dead or if he needed medical help. He just left him lying dead and Christopher lying badly wounded.”

Daniel had left his home to look at the British army tanks. He met his cousins and they decided to walk to Creggan Heights. When they spotted British soldiers ahead of them, they turned to go home. That was when 'Soldier B' crossed the road and shot Daniel and Christopher,” said Margaret.

Margaret said Daniel's death wrecked their family. 

“We were only children ourselves, Kathleen, Philomena (deceased) and I, so we did not really question my mammy (Maggie) and daddy (Alec) because when you spoke Daniel’s name they were in tears,” said Margaret. “They just shut down themselves. They did not know how to cope so we did not know how to cope. 

“It was during an exhibition celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Creggan we discovered the British army had said Daniel was a terrorist. There was a photograph there we had never seen before showing Daniel's blood all over the footpath. 

“That’s when I said, 'Mammy, we can’t allow Daniel to be called a terrorist'. So then we decided we would take them on. 20 years ago we started the campaign to clear Daniel's name, which we did at his second inquest in 2011."