Annette McGavigan

Annette McGavigan 14 years, Drumcliff Avenue, Derry City, shot dead by a British soldier in a street in the city on 6 September 1971. 
 
Annette McGavigan was the third oldest in a family of four brothers and two sisters. She attended Long Tower Primary School in Derry, and later Saint Cecilia's Secondary, also in Derry. At secondary school Annette's favourite topics were art, English, and shorthand. Her family described her as a very friendly and happy girl who loved to play at being the mother with her younger brothers and sisters. 

Derry City during September 1971, like many nationalist areas in the north of Ireland at that time, endured daily and frequent violence. Internment without trial of nationalist males had been in operation for nearly a month. Arrests and raids by British military authorities were continuing on a regular basis. Protests against the introduction of internment and clashes between British troops and nationalist civilians were regular occurrences. 

Early on the afternoon of 6 September 1971, while Annette was at school, a confrontation between British soldiers and civilians occurred near the courthouse in the city. The trouble began following the appearance in court, on civil disorder offences, of John Hume and Ivan Cooper, two prominent civil rights campaigners and leading members of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). Outside the court a large crowd waited to show their support for the men. After the hearing, as the crowd moved off scuffles broke out with British troops. Within a short time the trouble escalated and rubber bullets were fired into the crowd, who responded with bricks and bottles. The trouble continued for some time around the Rossville Street and William Street area, on the edge of the city's Bogside district.

By the time Annette and her friends got out of school in the late afternoon the violence near the Bogside had abated. However, Annette and some friends heard about the earlier trouble and went down towards the city centre to investigate the scene. All the girls were still in their school uniforms and amongst them was Annette's close friend, Margaret McShane. 

Margaret McShane, interviewed shortly after Annette's death, said they had gone to the scene of the rioting to look for rubber bullets the army had fired. She said she and other children liked to collect them as souvenirs. After spending some time looking for rubber bullets she and Annette met up with some more girl friends. The area was quiet, and she and Annette were talking to a group of girls in the Little Diamond area of the city, when suddenly there was a loud explosion. 

The time was 6pm, and unknown to the girls a blast bomb had been thrown at British soldiers in a near-by street. Annette and her friends panicked by the blast immediately ran off. As they did so a number of British soldiers ran from a side street and opened fire on the fleeing girls. One of the British soldiers was seen taking aim as he fired. Annette was still running when she was hit, falling forward on to her face. She had been shot in the back of the head and died instantly. 

A statement by the British Army's Press Office issued soon after the shooting claimed 'its men had opened fire after a blast bomb had been thrown and gunfire directed at them'. They fully accepted that one of their soldiers had hit and killed the young girl, adding they would be carrying out an investigation into the circumstances. 
Civilian eyewitnesses and local political representatives who were interviewed by the Press at the time all rejected the British Army's version of the shooting. They said there had not been any shots fired immediately before the blast bomb was thrown, and that the children were not involved in the attack nor did they pose any threat as they ran away. One leading politician, Ivan Cooper, of the SDLP, accused the British army of being 'trigger-happy.' 

The inquest into Annette's death was held in front of a jury in January 1972. The British soldiers who opened fire on the children did not attend the hearing. Instead a British Army legal representative read out their statements to the court. None of the soldiers involved were identified in their statements and were named simply as soldiers 'A', 'B' and 'C'. 

They said they had been on guard duty that evening when a total of ten shots were fired at them and then a blast bomb was flung at them. None of them were injured. They gave no explanation as to why they opened fire on the fleeing children. 

Local people who had witnessed the shooting also attended the hearing. All of them in their evidence accepted there had been shooting in the area that day, but were adamant it had been much earlier in the day, certainly well before the time the blast bomb was thrown. 

One witness, Patrick Meenan, who lived close to the scene of the shooting, told the inquest he had been watching television when he heard a loud explosion. He said he went to the door and looked towards the Little Diamond area. He said he saw 'about thirty young people, mostly girls, running from Eglington Place, from the Little Diamond direction.' He said he also saw 'two British soldiers on the waste ground running away from Eglington Place. Both (soldiers) were carrying guns and both stopped and faced Eglington Place. One of them dropped to his knees.' At this point Mr Meenan said he pulled his head back into the doorway, as he feared what was about to happen. Then he heard two or three shots. When he looked out again he noticed one of the girls who had been running down Eglington Place had fallen on her face. 

Concluding his evidence Mr Meenan said 'I saw no person or persons shooting, if there had been any gunmen there I would have seen them or heard the shots.' 

Medical evidence revealed at the hearing showed Annette McGavigan was shot once in the back of the head and died instantly. The jury returned an open verdict. 

The investigation the British military claimed it would carry out into the 'circumstances' of Annette McGavigan's shooting was never published. There were no other reports of any criminal inquiries by the authorities into Annette's death. To date no British soldier has been charged in connection with her killing.