HISTORICAL ENQUIRIES TEAM VERDICT | BILLY McKAVANAGH

Man shot in back by British Army was ‘innocent’

Margaret Duffy, twin sister of Billy McKavanagh, with her husband, Teddy, speaking at a Belfast news conference about the murder of Billy in 1971

FOUR DECADES to the day an unarmed Belfast man was shot in the back and killed by the British Army in 1971, the Historical Enquiries Team declared he was “innocent” of any wrongdoing. The British Army had consistently argued that Billy McKavanagh was an armed IRA activist.
British soldiers came upon the 21-year-old Markets man near Inglis’s Bakery on 11th August 1971, two days after the introduction of internment without trial. Along with his older brother and a cousin, he had picked up a pair of waders stolen by someone else. Startled by the soldiers, the trio ran away and Billy was shot in the back by a member of the Royal Green Jackets regiment. On 11th August this year, 40 years on, the HET verified those facts.
The HET declared:
“Billy, his brother Patrick and their cousin Teddy were walking along Catherine Street heading towards home. They had picked up items that had been looted and left lying on the street. When they saw soldiers they dropped the items and ran.
“Billy was shot in the back from close range as he ran away.”
The HET added:
“He did not pose any threat whatsoever when he was shot.”
Patrick and Teddy were guarded by one group of soldiers who treated them humanely, the HET said, but another unit they were handed over to with Billy’s body viciously assaulted them.
“[Patrick and Teddy] were pistol whipped and beaten with rifle butts,” the HET said. “After being taken into custody they were hooded and were then further beaten with batons before being handed over to the police.”
The beatings were so savage that the soldiers who had first had Patrick and Teddy under guard did not recognise them.
Now Billy McKavanagh’s family are demanding a full apology from the British Government and the Ministry of Defence for the actions of their soldiers.
His twin sister, Margaret Duffy, called for a formal apology from the British Government to “put a lid on the torment” the family has endured for four decades.
Another sister, Eilish Morris, said:
“ My mum, Margaret, was heart-broken after Billy died. She had several heart attacks in the years after his death and I think she eventually died of a broken heart in 1984.
“Pat never got over it until the day he died, nine years ago. He told us he had flashbacks every single day. I am just sorry that my brother and mother are not here to see this day but we are thinking of them.”
She said that an apology by the British state “is vital”.
“We want an apology and we deserve an apology and the HET told us themselves we deserve an apology. We have gone this far so we will not stop until we get it.”
South Belfast Sinn Féin Assembly member Alex Maskey said the HET report is an absolute vindication for the McKavanagh family and an exposure of a 40-year-old British state lie:
“Everyone in the community in the Markets knew the truth about the murder of Billy McKavanagh. Billy McKavanagh was an unarmed man shot dead by the British Army in cold blood. For 40 years the British state has stuck to the lie that Billy McKavanagh was an armed IRA Volunteer. The HET report today lays this lie bare.
“Billy McKavangh was not a member of the IRA and he was not armed when he was shot. Republicans made this clear at the time of the murder and in the years since.
“The British state now needs to act on this HET report, accept the reality of the situation and apologise to the McKavanagh family.”
The Ministry of Defence said it is considering the family’s call for an apology.