The sister of a teenager shot dead by the British army on the morning of Operation Motorman has vowed to fight for justice for her brother until the day she dies.
Daniel Hegarty (15) was one of two teenagers shot dead in Derry’s Creggan just hours before the Claudy bombing.
IRA man, Seamus Bradley (19) was also killed in disputed circumstances.
The 15-year-old was shot twice in the head with a heavy duty machine gun at almost point blank range as the British army moved into Creggan. His killers claimed he was carrying a nail bomb but later withdrew the allegation. In 2011, following a fresh inquest, a jury found that neither Daniel nor his cousins who were with him, Christopher (who was also shot but survived) and Thomas, posed any threat.
Moves to prosecute Soldier B, who fired the fatal shots, were stopped by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) last year on legal grounds. The teenager’s family are challenging the DPP decision.
Daniel’s sister, Margaret Brady said she still struggled to accept that it was 50 years since her brother was killed.
“I promised my late father (Alex) that I would keep up the fight for justice for Daniel and I will continue until I breath my last breath. If they don’t prosecute him, it’s saying to the British army you can do whatever you want and you’ll be OK,” she said.
Later that day, the British army claimed Seamus Bradley was armed when he was shot dead. However, his family has always claimed he died hours after while under interrogation. Both versions were rejected at an inquest in 2018.
In 2018 a inquest found that the use of force in the Seamus Bradley's death was “unjustified” and that the 1972 investigation into his death was “flawed and inadequate”.
His brother, Danny Bradley intends marking the 50th anniversary at 4.20am on Sunday at the point where his brother was shot. Mr Bradley said he hopes to make a video about how his brother died and how the British army “stripped away his dignity” which he will post on social media.
“The violence against Seamus has echoed against me and our family down through 50 years. Until I got the “unlawful” killing ruling in 2018, I was very angry; I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress and I put it down to what happened my brother. Now I’m learning to deal with that,” he said.
A plaque to the memory of Daniel Hegarty will be unveiled at 114 Creggan Heights, the spot where he was shot dead, on Sunday at 2pm.