A CORONER has removed the anonymity protection from two military witnesses to the fatal shooting of a West Belfast schoolboy in August 1975.

Patrick Crawford (15) was killed by a single shot to his chest while walking through the grounds of the Royal Victoria Hospital on the Falls Road on the evening of 10th August 1975 at approximately 9.40pm.

In December, a coroner ruled that Patrick was on the balance of probabilities shot dead by an unidentified member of the British Army with a high velocity bullet from the roof of the maternity building.

The Coroner concluded that Patrick was an innocent 15-year-old schoolboy who was not involved with paramilitaries or paramilitary activities and posed no threat. 

The Coroner’s verdict also corrected the public record in relation to the teenager’s killing in circumstances where erroneous information had existed in the public domain that Patrick had been killed either in crossfire or in a feud, allegations strenuously disputed by his family for 50 years.

The Coroner also concluded that the British army were in almost complete control of the RVH buildings and grounds at the time and that up to nine soldiers were in the vicinity at the time of the fatal shooting.

Now, the Coroner has removed the anonymity of the two soldiers previously known as PC02 and PC03, naming them in a revised judgment as Colour Sergeant McGarva (PCO2) and Fusilier Ingles (PC03).

The two soldiers were named in the updated verdict on June 10 as deceased soldiers who were present in the aftermath of the shooting but neither of them were identified as the army shooter.

In the 85-page Verdict delivered in December 2024 the Coroner further concluded that the original police and Royal Military Police investigations had failed to collate and secure critical evidence.

Maggie Crawford, sister of Patrick said: “The verdict and the anonymity ruling in Patrick’s case, resulting in the naming of two military witnesses is important to us as a family as it is about the transparency of the court process.

"Here we are, nearly 50 years later, with the record finally corrected regarding what happened to our Patrick in August 1975. 

"It is a great sadness to us that our father, Patrick Sr did not live to see this verdict and ruling. Our mother Martha was shot dead three years before Patrick and both their deaths could have destroyed our family, our father, and the surviving nine brothers and sisters.

"Both our parents and Patrick can now rest in peace. We as a family hope these two court rulings are useful for all the other families seeking the truth.

"If the state is going to shoot dead innocent civilians, including children, then it must be held to account no matter how long it takes.”