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Family accept ‘significant’ deal from Ministry of Defense for uncle shot by British army in 1971 – The Irish News

Family accept ‘significant’ deal from Ministry of Defense for uncle shot by British army in 1971 – The Irish News

The family of a Derry man shot dead by British soldiers in 1971 have welcomed a “significant financial settlement” agreed by the Ministry of Defence.

Billy McGreanery (41) died hours after he was shot on Lone Moor Road in Derry on September 14, 1971. The clash followed the shooting of two British soldiers in Derry earlier the same day, one of whom died.

Following Mr McGreanery’s death, the soldier who fired the fatal single shot claimed he was a gunman, although a colleague who was with him said he did not see any weapons.

In 2013, Armed Forces Minister Andrew Robathan issued a public apology for the Derry man’s death, after which the family’s lawyer demanded a new inquest. Just days before the Inheritance Act halted all legal proceedings related to the Troubles, the Prosecution Service (PPS) announced that the soldier responsible would not be prosecuted.

The attorney general also ordered a new inquest into the death of Mr McGreanery on April 30 this year. However, once the Inheritance Act became law, the investigation did not continue and all inheritance investigations were stopped the next day.

Mr McGreanery’s nephew, also named Billy, said the Ministry of Defense had paid a financial penalty for the “death, pain, suffering and grief” it had inflicted on his family. The deal was approved on Thursday.

Mr McGreanery said: “I liken this process to a three-course meal that we have fought so hard for and deserve. The beginning was an apology for Billy’s unjust murder, and today is sweet, financial retribution.

“But they bypassed the real path, which is justice, as we have been starving for 53 years and can only hope. “The PPS investigation firmly establishes the justice we desire and only an investigation can meet our need for the justice we deserve.”

Gary Duffy, of law firm KRWLAW, said the settlement was a boost to the family’s campaign to uncover the truth.

“We look forward to the reopening of the family’s investigation and a decision to prosecute the soldier who shot and killed Billy,” Mr Duffy said.



Sara Duddy, of the Pat Finucane Centre, who is working with the family, said the settlement was another admission of wrongdoing and was welcomed by the McGreanery family.

Ms Duddy said: “But what would be fair would be for Trooper A to be held accountable for his actions in reversing the PPS decision not to prosecute.

“We also have concerns that if the investigation does not progress, the family will also have their investigation ordered by the Attorney General dismissed so close to the Inheritance Act deadline,” Ms Duddy said.