Schoolboy ‘likely’ shot by soldier in hospital grounds in 1975, coroner finds

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. It is more likely than not that Patrick was shot by an unidentified British Army soldier in circumstances where they could not have had a reasonable belief of a threat of force Judge Philip Gilpin He told the court: “The cumulative effect of the facts as found by me, and the various strands of evidence when brought together, satisfy me on the balance of probabilities, to a sufficient degree of cogency, that it is more likely than not that Patrick was shot by an unidentified British Army soldier in circumstances where they could not have had a reasonable belief of a threat of force.” He rejected theories the teenager had been killed as part of an IRA feud, stating he “was an innocent 15-year-old boy not involved in any suspect activity at the time he was shot”. Mr Gilpin said there had been outbreaks of sporadic violence “including gunfire towards members of the Army, particularly in and around the area of the RVH.” Patrick, who was walking home, had encountered two women, Annie Miskimmin and Catherine Faloon, and asked them to walk with him through the hospital grounds as he was “nervous of the army in the RVH”. He added: “I consider that to all intents and purposes the military were in control of this area, in significant numbers, were armed, and recorded as being actively looking for a gunman, at least in the time prior to Patrick’s arrival in that area.” The coroner said it had not proven possible to identify the person who shot Patrick but that there were two possibilities – a soldier or a member of a paramilitary organisation. “The absence of investigation only lends itself, in my view, to support a narrative that what happened to Patrick was known at the time and so there was no appetite to explore those events given the involvement of the Army.” Mr Gilpin said, given his findings, he would take submissions on whether anonymity orders on two dead soldiers given the ciphers PC02 and PC03 would be removed.