THE family of a woman shot dead by the army in Creggan, Londonderry in 1971 say they’ve been given fresh hope that a second inquest into her death will take place.
Kathleen Thompson, who was a mother of six, is one of 56 legacy inquests currently under review by Lord Justice Weir.
Kathleen’s son David was at the inquest today.
The mother of six was shot dead in the garden of her Creggan home in 1971 during an Army raid on the estate. She was found by her 12-year-old daughter.
The soldier – named only as ‘Soldier D’ -who killed was interviewed in 2013 by the Historical Inquiries Team.
After studying its report, the Attorney General John Larkin QC ordered a fresh inquest.
He said the original investigation was not thorough and the evidence from the soldier will form a key part of the new inquest.
Today, a senior judge has again criticised delays in providing documentation in relation to inquests into contentious Troubles deaths.
At the end of the first week of a review of the 56 stalled proceedings, Lord Justice Reg Weir QC said matters “needed to be taken out of neutral and put into a forward-moving gear”.
He suggested that “better training for those engaged in redaction work might be of benefit”.
The judge has been getting exasperated at how slow the PSNI has been at fulfilling its obligations to the Coroner’s Service in providing documents to families and their legal teams.
Earlier this week, Lord Justice Weir ordered the PSNI to hand over within a fortnight 34 non sensitive files to the family of murdered Bellaghy GAA boss Sean Brown who was brutally shot dead by the LVF in 1997 after being abducted from his Wolfe Tones Club.
The review will continue next week.
The two week review into 56 legacy cases began on Monday.
The cases involve 95 deaths where inquests have still to be heard.
These include some of the most controversial killings during the Troubles.
Tags: