Family reject HET report on soldier’s killing of teen
Derry solicitor Paddy McDermott speaking at the Press conference held in Pilot's Row by members of the family of Manus Deery, who are unhappy with the outcome of the Historical Enquiries Report into their brother's death. Centre is Helen Deery (sister) and Sean McHugh (nephew). 2102JM09
The family of a 15-year-old Derry youth shot dead by the British army in 1972 have rejected a report by the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) and called on the coroner to re-open the inquest into his death.
Manus Deery was shot dead by a British soldier at Westland Street in the Bogside on May 19, 1972.
At the time, the soldiers claimed they were firing at a gunman located close to the Bogside Inn - a claim supported by the HET report.
However, the Deery family have always maintained that there was no justification for the shooting and witnesses who were in the area at the time have all denied seeing any gunman.
The case was sent to the HET soon after it was set up and recently the team prepared a report which concluded that the soldier was justified in firing and that the shooting was within the limits of the Yellow Card which governed when soldiers could open fire.
Speaking on Friday at a press conference, Helen Deery, the dead youth’s sister who was 13 when the shooting occurred, said her family rejected the report from the HET.
She said: “We have always known that Manus was innocent. We reject this report absolutely.
“There were six witnesses who all gave statements at the time and also to the HET and none of them saw a gunman or, indeed, a derelict car that the HET refers to.
“The soldiers who claimed to have seen a gunman never ever described him, what he was wearing or anything and what is worse they were back on duty on the streets of Derry the very next day.”
She added: “At the start of this process, we were told that both soldiers involved - who were identified as Soldier A and Soldier B - would be interviewed - yet it turns out that Soldier A has been dead since 2001. I would like to see some proof that he actually is dead.”
Helen Deery added: “The HET seem to have gone out of their way to demean the witnesses who were along with Manus when he was shot. They wereall only children at the time and children don’t lie about things like this.
“None of them saw any gunman anywhere. The journalist Kevin Myers was also in the Bogside at the time and he saw Manus’ body but no gunman. I don’t think the HET spoke to him.”
Helen Deery said there was not a day went by that she did not think of her brother.
She said: “He was a lovely young fella. Two weeks before he was shot, he had just got his first job and he had met up with his friends at the chip shop to mark his first ever pay packet. The chips were lying all around his body after he was shot.”
Solicitor for the Deery family, Paddy MacDermott, said: “The family do not accept that the soldiers saw a gunman and are convinced that Soldier A fired without justification.
“Soldier A either fired deliberately to cause casualties or was negligent and reckless whether he would cause injury or death.
“The HET failed to do what the authorities failed to do in 1972 and that was to investigate this incident properly.
“A proper investigation at the time could have uncovered the truth but it was never carried out and the HET failed as well.”
Mr. MacDermott said he was waiting for a response from the Coroner Mr. John Lecky to re-open the inquest into Manus Deery’s death as the family believed that was the only way to establish the truth.
He added: “The HET seemed to go out of their way to state that the soldier was justified in firing and, in doing so, they based this on the statement of one dead soldier and the testimony of another living one and completely ignored the evidence of six civilian witnesses.”
The HET report did find that Manus Deery was innocent when he was shot.
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