>A mother-of-six was shot dead by a soldier in her back garden in circumstances which were “unjustified”, a coroner has ruled.
>Kathleen Thompson, a 47-year-old housewife, was killed by a bullet to the chest in Derry on 6 November 1971, an inquest heard.
>Two bullets were fired by someone identified only as soldier D into her garden in Rathlin Drive, Creggan, as he and others were withdrawing from the area, Judge Sandra Crawford said.
>She said Mrs Thompson was unarmed and had been in her back garden banging a bin lid or other object to alert neighbours to the presence of soldiers in the area.
>The shooting of Ms Thompson, whose children were aged between seven and 18 at the time, breached guidance on the deployment of lethal force provided to soldiers, the coroner said.
>Kathleen Thompson pictured with her family
>Giving a summary of her findings today, the coroner said: “Her death was caused by a high-velocity shot fired by soldier D from a position on Southway, Derry, as he and other soldiers were withdrawing from the area.
>”Soldier D did not have an honest belief that a gunshot had been fired from the garden of 129 Rathlin Drive and that his life and the lives of others were under immediate threat.”
She said “shooting into a dark garden in a >residential area in such circumstances” breached guidance on soldiers’ use of lethal force.
>She found that the soldier had fired two shots into Mrs Thompson’s back garden “in circumstances which were unjustified”.
>The coroner said no proper investigation had been carried out into the death.
>A previous inquest into Mrs Thompson’s death, held in 1972, returned an open verdict.
>A new inquest was ordered in September 2013 and began in 2018.
Unjustified is an odd way of describing murder.
Over 50 years for an inquest verdict. British justice is an actual joke. Soldier D is possibly dead and buried with military honours, and a chest full of medals awarded by the queen. A truly “appalling vista” indeed.
She’s just lucky they didn’t decapitate her and use her skull as an ashtray.
4 comments
>A mother-of-six was shot dead by a soldier in her back garden in circumstances which were “unjustified”, a coroner has ruled.
>Kathleen Thompson, a 47-year-old housewife, was killed by a bullet to the chest in Derry on 6 November 1971, an inquest heard.
>Two bullets were fired by someone identified only as soldier D into her garden in Rathlin Drive, Creggan, as he and others were withdrawing from the area, Judge Sandra Crawford said.
>She said Mrs Thompson was unarmed and had been in her back garden banging a bin lid or other object to alert neighbours to the presence of soldiers in the area.
>The shooting of Ms Thompson, whose children were aged between seven and 18 at the time, breached guidance on the deployment of lethal force provided to soldiers, the coroner said.
>Kathleen Thompson pictured with her family
>Giving a summary of her findings today, the coroner said: “Her death was caused by a high-velocity shot fired by soldier D from a position on Southway, Derry, as he and other soldiers were withdrawing from the area.
>”Soldier D did not have an honest belief that a gunshot had been fired from the garden of 129 Rathlin Drive and that his life and the lives of others were under immediate threat.”
She said “shooting into a dark garden in a >residential area in such circumstances” breached guidance on soldiers’ use of lethal force.
>She found that the soldier had fired two shots into Mrs Thompson’s back garden “in circumstances which were unjustified”.
>The coroner said no proper investigation had been carried out into the death.
>A previous inquest into Mrs Thompson’s death, held in 1972, returned an open verdict.
>A new inquest was ordered in September 2013 and began in 2018.
Unjustified is an odd way of describing murder.
Over 50 years for an inquest verdict. British justice is an actual joke. Soldier D is possibly dead and buried with military honours, and a chest full of medals awarded by the queen. A truly “appalling vista” indeed.
She’s just lucky they didn’t decapitate her and use her skull as an ashtray.