Kathleen Thompson who was shot dead by a British soldier in Derry in 1971
AN inquest into the 1971 British Army killing of Derry mother-of-six Kathleen Thompson, which was due to start tomorrow , now has been postponed until the New Year.
Coroner Patrick McGurgan was advised at an emergency preliminary hearing this morning in Belfast, that a number of expert reports, including an independent pathology report and a ballistics report, were not ready in time for the inquest to begin on Friday morning at Derry Courthouse.
It’s understood the British Ministry of Defence has also failed to provide a full explanation as to why certain army logs are missing. Coroner McGurgan stated that the inquest would be pushed back until March 2018 “at the latest.”
Mrs Thompson was shot dead in the back garden of her home at Rathlin Gardens in Creggan, Derry, on November 6, 1971, by a soldier from the Royal Green Jackets.
The soldier who fired the fatal shot, known only as “Soldier D”, was due to give evidence to the new inquest from behind a screen next Tuesday.
At today’s hearing, Counsel for the Coroner acknowledged the shortcomings of past investigations and stated that they were taking this course of action in delaying the inquest to “ensure a full, comprehensive and knowledgeable investigation.”
The Thompson family counsel Fiona Doherty QC told the court: “The family have mentally and emotionally prepared for the inquest.
“They now have to start again.
“It is with extreme sadness and disappointment that they find out the inquest will not now go ahead as planned, literally with a day to spare.”
A further preliminary hearing is due to take place on December 13.
Earlier this month Coroner Patrick McGurgan asked anyone with information about Mrs Thompson’s death to contact the Coroners Service by October 20.
He made a particular appeal to two girls who may have been standing on a wall at her home on the night she was shot and may also have spoken to her husband Patrick to get in touch.
Mrs Thompson’s killing left behind a husband without his wife and six children without a mother.
One of her daughter’s, Minty Thompson, who was aged just 12 when her mother was killed, has joined the Victims and Survivors Forum
On 6th November 1971, when Minty was 12 years old, her mother Kathleen was shot dead by the British Army in the back garden of their home in Creggan. Minty’s mother left behind a husband and six children.
Minty described her motivation for joining the Forum:
“I wanted to join the Forum to make a positive contribution, because I believe there are opportunities where we can move forward on issues such as dealing with the past.
“The collective voice of victims and survivors has a lot of power, and I feel privileged to be part of that collective voice.
“It is my belief that victims should have a choice into what level of acknowledgment they seek, as individuals and families, for what happened to them or their loved ones in the past.”
Minty is hopeful that there are many areas where the Forum can make a difference:
“I believe that as a group, we can exert a positive influence on government and politicians.
“By 2019 I would hope the Forum will have played its part in the setting up of the institutions proposed in the Stormont House Agreement, including the Historical Inquiries Unit, the Oral History Archive, the Independent Commission on Information Retrieval and reparations for those in need.”
Tags: