Family informed of identity of soldier accused in teen’s 1972 death

The family of a teenager killed over five decades ago in Londonderry has learned the identity of the deceased British soldier accused in the case. Daniel Hegarty was shot on July 31, 1972, during a British Army operation in Derry’s Creggan area. The serviceman, who passed away last year and was previously identified only as Soldier B, will now have his complete name used in upcoming court proceedings and all legal records, as his relatives did not oppose the termination of his anonymity. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed the name’s disclosure in a statement, adding that “it would be inappropriate to comment further” due to ongoing legal action. Margaret Brady, Daniel’s sister, is currently pursuing a civil lawsuit against the MoD concerning her brother’s alleged unlawful killing. She described the moment she first heard the soldier’s name, conveyed by her solicitor Desmond Doherty over the phone, as both surreal and emotional. Ms Brady recounted to BBC Radio Foyle’s North West Today programme, “When I heard his name for the first time, I stopped and I didn’t speak for a couple of seconds and then I broke down and cried.” She added, “Now, I can say his name now as many times as I want and all the [court] documents are going to be changed and his name is going to be on them.” Ms Brady characterized the disclosure of the soldier’s name after 52 years as “a significant step” for her family. Margaret and her sister Catherine acknowledged a sense of sorrow that their parents and their sister, Philomena, passed away without ever learning the soldier’s identity. Ms Brady reaffirmed that her family holds no ill-will towards the deceased soldier or his family, stating that knowing the name it “adds a human element to the entirety of the tragic events surrounding the death of Daniel.” “We have never got over Daniel’s death,” she stated. Ms Brady mentioned that Daniel’s birthday is approaching next week, and as they do annually, they will visit his grave as a family to place flowers on his headstone. She concluded, “We miss him every day and his death wrecked our family, we never really recovered from it.” An initial inquest into Daniel’s death took place in 1973, resulting in an open verdict. A subsequent inquest was mandated by the Attorney General in 2009, after a review by the Historical Enquiries Team. In 2011, an inquest jury unanimously concluded that the teenager presented no threat and was shot without prior warning. Christopher Hegarty, Daniel’s cousin, also sustained injuries during the same event. The former serviceman, identified at the time as Soldier B, had been facing charges for Daniel’s murder. Criminal proceedings against him were halted at one point following the collapse of a separate trial involving two former paratroopers accused of a different Troubles-era killing. Last June, senior judges in Belfast overturned the Public Prosecution Service’s decision to discontinue the case against Soldier B. He passed away two months subsequent to this, thereby eliminating any possibility of him ever facing trial.