THE sister of a Turf Lodge teenager shot dead by the British Army has called for an apology over her brother’s death, which is set for a new inquest. 17-year-old Leo Norney was shot dead by members of the Black Watch Regiment in Ardmonagh Gardens on September 13, 1975.  

At the time the British army claimed that they had come under fire from a gunman in the area. They said they returned fire and hit Leo, who they claimed was a gunman.

Witnesses stated Leo had just alighted from a black taxi at Shepherd’s Path near the top of the Whiterock Road, before the shooting occurred. Human rights campaigner Father Denis Faul produced a pamphlet at the time that rejected the army’s claims. Those interviewed for the pamphlet said Leo had been a passenger in a black taxi that was searched at a checkpoint by members of the Black Watch on the Whiterock Road. 

In 1977, the then Secretary of State Roy Mason, in response to a question from the nationalist MP Gerry Fitt, confirmed that members of the Black Watch Regiment who had been involved in the Leo Norney shooting had been later convicted of planting ammunition on other civilians.

In 2013, investigators from the PSNI’s Historical Enquiries Team revealed that an ex-sergeant of the British army’s Special Investigation Branch (SIB), who had carried out an initial investigation into Leo’s shooting had said he was “sceptical” about the account given by soldiers at the scene.  The HET said the sergeant also claimed he had been “put under pressure by his superiors to establish from the RUC if there was firearms residue on Leo”.

After being told residue was present, he reported this to his superiors. However, the RUC later told him the residue was not consistent firearms discharge, and he was subsequently demoted for giving the wrong information. Documents uncovered by Relatives for Justice in the British Government’s National Archives in Kew further exposed the attempts by the British state to label Leo Norney as a gunman.  The documents, which relate to correspondence between the RUC Chief Constable and the head of the British army, show that they both colluded to impugn Leo. 

At the time of writing, a preliminary hearing for the inquest into Leo Norney’s death is due to take place. The coroner, Patrick McGurgan, has also appealed for any witnesses of the shooting to come forward.

Speaking ahead the inquest, the date of which is yet to be set, Leo’s sister Anne Wiggins said: “I just want the truth established.” She went on: “I don’t think the soldiers will be put in prison or anything, but that won’t help matters. The soldiers concerned are older now and the main one, Corporal MacKay, died a few years ago, but we just want the truth.

I don’t think the soldiers will be put in prison or anything, but that won’t help matters. The soldiers concerned are older now and the main one, Corporal MacKay, died a few years ago, but we just want the truth.

“They were soldiers of bad character. We’ve got some other documents that say that Corporal (John Ross) MacKay had planted ammunition on civilians and that he had got the ammunition from the RUC. We’ve also got two statements from friends of his who were in the army with him.

“I just want the truth to be told about what happened and people going to prison isn’t going to help me in any way. 

“I got the HET report recently and they said that we should get an apology, so I want a very robust apology and a recognition of what my family has had to campaign for, for over 40 years.”

She continued: “When someone dies the way Leo dies it’s very important for the truth to be established.  It’s very hard to accept, especially when you consider what was said about Leo – it’s what you would now refer to as fake news. Fake news was spread about Leo that he was a gunman. 

When someone dies the way Leo dies it’s very important for the truth to be established.  It’s very hard to accept, especially when you consider what was said about Leo – it’s what you would now refer to as fake news. Fake news was spread about Leo that he was a gunman. 

“Leo was such a lovely boy. He was happy, he was carefree. He had a girlfriend, he had not long got a job as a messenger in a post office. He was going to go on a course to ride a motorbike. He was very happy. He was earning some money and he could afford to do things that he never could before.

“He was a very, very sensitive boy. He wanted there to be no trouble in Ireland, and he wanted people to live in peace.”

Paul Butler from Relatives for Justice said: “At the outset it was clear that there was wrongdoing in the shooting of Leo Norney and it was never properly investigated.

“When a new inquest was granted the then Attorney General, John Larkin, basically said that the soldiers told lies. For the family and RFJ the new inquest will tell the truth about young Leo and it will clear his name.”

Any individual who was in the area at the relevant time or who may have information in relation to the death of Leo Norney is asked to contact the Legacy Inquest Unit by telephone on 028 90 446 829.