British Army logs altered about schoolboy's killing in 1972

THE British Ministry of Defence has cut out sections of military operational logs relating to the killing of 11-year-old schoolboy Francis Rowntree by a soldier in 1972, it has emerged as the inquest into his death continues 44 years after the tragedy.

Francis, from Lower Clonard Street, was standing at shops near Divis Towers in Belfast on 20 April 1972 when he was fatally injured by a rubber bullet that had been deliberately doctored with a torch battery to make it more lethal.

Francis became the first of many children to be killed by the British Army and RUC using rubber and plastic bullets. 

The second youngest child in a family of five, he died of his injuries two days after the shooting without ever regaining consciousness.

Local Sinn Féin MLA Fra McCann said it is “disgraceful” that “vital information” has been tampered with by the British Army and Ministry of Defence.

“The British Government cannot claim that this information undermines ‘national security’,” the Sinn Féin MLA said. “They need to provide the full transcripts to the inquest.”

He added:

“The family of Francis Rowntree have waited 44 years to have an inquest into his killing and these documents need to be produced in order for the family to have the truth on how Francis died.”

The inquest continues in Belfast.