A FRESH inquest into the death of a West Belfast teenager shot by the Army almost 46 years ago is to be held in November.

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, however, stated that 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 West Belfast 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. 

Speaking to belfastMedia.com in November, Leo's sister, Anne Wiggins said she just wants the truth.

"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.

“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 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.”

A fresh inquest is to be held at Banbridge court house in November.