Thomas Friel

Thomas Friel 21 years, Creggan Heights, Derry City, hit by a rubber bullet near his home late on the evening of 17 May 1973. He died in hospital on 22 May 1973. Members of the British Army’s Royal Artillery Regiment carried out the shooting. 

Thomas Friel was one of a family with ten children, five sons and five daughters. On the night Thomas was fatally wounded he had been out with his brother Seamus, drinking at a public house in the Derry and stayed until closing time. After buying a ‘carryout’ they left the pub together with two friends, intending to go to one of the friend’s house. 

Seamus Friel, interviewed by the local Press at the time, described what happened after they left the pub. He said it was about midnight and as they passed the Creggan shops in Central Drive local women told them a boy was being beaten up by soldiers in a laneway at the back of the shops, which was close to the British army camp at Piggery Ridge. When they approached the top of the lane Seamus said he noticed some people standing about the street at the bottom of the road leading to the army camp, but there was no sign of any trouble and the area was quiet. We then made our way back across the street towards our home, but as we approached the corner several soldiers jumped out from behind a fence at the back of houses. 

The soldiers started to run up the road towards the camp and as they did they fired a number of rubber bullets without warning. One of the bullets hit Thomas on the head at close range throwing him backwards onto the ground. The soldiers did not stop but ran on into the army camp. When he went over to his brother he found him unconscious. Some other people came and we carried him into the Deehan’s house. One of the Deehan’s was a member of the Knights of Malta, who as well giving first aid phoned for an ambulance. Seamus said he asked the people present in the Deehan home to say Thomas had fallen, as he was afraid his brother would be charged with riotous behaviour. Two neighbours, Mrs Nixon and another woman travelled in the ambulance with Thomas to the hospital. 

Seamus said he then went to his parent’s home. ‘At this stage’ he said ‘I did not realize the extent of his injuries. I thought he was just knocked out and I did not want to annoy my parents. The next morning when I went to the hospital Thomas was being prepared for the theatre. The surgeon, whose name I do not know, came to speak to me. He asked me what happened to Thomas and I told him the truth of the incident. He said that Thomas was critically ill and used the phrase, his brain is shattered. Thomas died four days later without regaining consciousness. When I went to the Morgue to identify my brother the police were there. They asked me to make a statement about the injury. I told them exactly what happened and they asked why I had not reported it at the time and why the people who had taken him to the hospital told the hospital staff when Thomas was admitted that he had fallen. I explained to the police my reasons.’

News of Thomas Friel’s death led to serious rioting in several areas of Derry, with vehicles being hijacked and used as barricades during hours of street battles between soldiers and youths. The killing was widely condemned by local politicians and trade unionists, and a series of mass walkouts was organised by workers at the Springtown Industrial estate and other factories in the city in protest. The protesting workers marched from their places of work to the RUC headquarters in the city at Strand Road, where they held a sit-down protest before returning to their work.

A British army spokesman in a statement issued only hours after the shooting claimed there had been rioting in the Creggan area and one of their soldiers had hit a leading rioter with a rubber bullet. The soldier, the spokesman claimed, had fired at the ‘rioter’ from ‘a distance of 20-30 yards; he fell and was dragged away by other rioters before soldiers could arrest him. Whether this is the man who is injured in hospital cannot at the present be verified.’

Residents of Creggan who witnessed the shooting of Thomas Friel disputed the British army version of events that evening and were adamant the young man was hit on the head by a rubber bullet fired from a distance of only two yards. The local branch of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association in Derry expressing its concern over the killing demanded and was given a meeting with the British army’s second in command in the city. During their discussion with the officer the NICRA delegation asked about the rules governing the use of rubber bullets by his soldiers. The officer told them that he was not prepared to reveal them. 

An inquest into the death of Thomas Friel was held sometime in 1974. None of the soldiers involved in the shooting attended the hearing. The RUC in their evidence maintained that Thomas’s death was due to a fall. The medical evidence was said to be inconclusive. The doctor who treated Thomas told the jury the ‘injuries could have been caused by a rubber bullet or by his head hitting the road.’ 

The jury returned an open verdict.

No British soldier was ever charged in connection with the killing of Thomas Friel.