Annette McGavigan was shot dead in Derry in September 1971 by British soldiers
Prosecutors said today there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the soldiers suspected of murdering dead Annette McGavigan, 14, and 41-year-old William McGreanery.
Annette McGavigan was shot dead during rioting in the Bogside on September 6, 1971.
Mr McGreanery, a shop assistant, died just over nine days later after a soldier opened fire from an Army sanger overlooking the junctions of Public Prosecution Service assistant director Martin Hardy.
Public Prosecution Service assistant director Martin Hardy said the evidence had been “carefully considered”.
“It has been determined that the available evidence in both cases is insufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction,” he said.
Three years ago a British soldier was interviewed under caution about Mr McGreanery’s killing by the PSNI’s Legacy Investigation Branch.
A file was submitted by police to the PPS in June 2022 for consideration.
Annette McGavigan was the 100th civilian killed in the Troubles.
Last September, a former British soldier was questioned under caution as part of the police investigation.
A file was submitted to the PPS on 6 February.
Mr Hardy said both cases “featured significant evidential difficulties” due to the circumstances in which accounts were taken by the Royal Military Police in 1971 and later by the PSNI’s Historical Enquiries Team.
Additionally, he said, the death of significant witnesses and a failure to conduct effective investigations in 1971, had further “ hampered investigative efforts and the prosecutorial prospects”.
The PPS said in the case of Annette McGavigan, prosecutors could not prove that the reported suspect fired the shots that killed the teenager.
It could also not be proved that shots may have been aimed at a gunman that some witnesses had reported seeing.
Mr McGreanery was unarmed and presented no threat to any soldier, the PPS said.
However the evidence was insufficient to proceed with a prosecution.
Mr Hardy added: “We recognise that these decisions not to prosecute will be deeply disappointing to the victims’ families who lost their loved one in very painful circumstances and are understandably still seeking clarity on what happened.”
The PPS decision comes just two days ahead of the 1 May deadline from when prosecutions under the UK’s controversial Troubles Legacy Act will be limited.
Under the act, prosecutions that are currently ongoing will continue to conclusion.
Any case after May 1 would become the responsibility of a new body set up to investigate Troubles-related killings – the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).
The Irish government has mounted a legal challenge to the act in the European Court of Human Rights.
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