Soldier not to be prosecuted over killing of man

The nephew of a man who died after being shot by a British soldier more than 50 years ago in Londonderry says he is “disappointed but not surprised” there will be no prosecution.

William McGreanery, 41, died on 15 September 1971, after a soldier opened fire from an Army observation post overlooking the Bogside.

In 2024, the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) said the soldier would not be prosecuted as there was insufficient evidence that he had fired the shots and that decision was upheld on Monday.

Mr McGreanery’s nephew Billy said “this is not the end of the road” for the family.

“While there is a breath in my body I will not give up,” he told BBC Radio Foyle’s North West Today programme.

Mr McGreanery, a shop assistant, was shot after a member of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards – known as Soldier A – opened fire from an Army sanger overlooking the junctions of Eastway, Lone Moor Road and Westland Street.

In June 2011, the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) found he “was not carrying a firearm and he posed no threat to the soldiers”.

In interviews with the HET, Soldier A denied that he had shot Mr McGreanery in revenge for the earlier murder of a soldier and insisted it had been a spur-of-the moment response to a perceived threat.

He told the HET he accepted he had made a mistake that night, but that it had been an honest one.

Later that year, the chief of the general staff of the Army sent an official apology to the McGreanery family and in 2013 an apology was also made by the armed forces minister, Andrew Robathan, in the House of Commons.

Last year, Northern Ireland’s Attorney General ordered a fresh inquest into the death of William McGreanery.

That direction came a day after the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the soldier involved in the shooting.

A senior public prosecutor reviewed that decision following a request from the McGreanery family but the PPS said on Monday that it had been upheld.

The family was awarded a “significant financial settlement” in November 2024.

“We have already been granted this new inquest and that wasn’t able to start until today’s decision was determined,” Mr McGreanery’s nephew Billy said.

“Details and comfort can come from an inquest as they are less legally binding and that’s what we have to latch onto now.”

He said the repeated delays had taken a toll on their family.

“The reason why I speak out is to make it easier for other families to push the justice door open.”

When Mr McGreanery was asked about seeking a judicial review he said: “Yes that is something we will consider with out legal team but we haven’t come to a decision yet.”

A PPS spokesperson told BBC News NI: “