KEVIN WILL ALWAYS BE IN OUR HEARTS

By Peter Bayne

THE brother of a Newry Schoolboy, controversially killed by a British Soldier, says the time has come to move on and bring years of anguish and heartbreak for his family to a close.

Members of the Heatley family will gather in Derrybeg later this month to mark the 50th Anniversary of the killing of their 12 year old sibling Kevin .

The St Joseph’s Secondary Schoolboy, who lived with his family in Second Avenue, Derrybeg , was shot dead on 28 February 1973, by members of the British Army’s Royal Hampshire Regiment.

The army initially claimed he was killed in crossfire but later a corporal was tried and convicted for unlawful killing. He was jailed for three years but was bailed within a week pending an appeal.

His appeal some months later was successful. In November 1974 the body of Demond Heatley, the boy's father, was found in Newry Canal. It is believed he took his own life having suffered from depression since his son's death.

On February 25th members of the Heatley family will come together to lay wreaths at the site of the killing in Derrybeg.

A special Mass will take place earlier in the evening in St Brigid’s Church while the Derrybeg Community, who for decades have offered great support to the family, will host an event in the local Community Hall.

Kevin’s oldest brother Martin remembers the death of his brother and the impact it has had on his family for half a century.

At the time of the killing Martin was working in England.

“I recall getting up in the morning and having my breakfast before I went to work. It came on the news that someone had been killed but it wasn’t until later that day at my work did someone call and tell me it was Kevin.

“He (Kevin) was the youngest of the boys and was a typical 12 yearold of that time . He used to follow us around and

and could get on with anybody.

“When he was killed it was particularly hard for my father (Desmond) and Mother (Kathleen).

“ I remember that my mother had to borrow money to pay for Kevin’s funeral as the State only offered her £750.

“The people of Derrybeg were great. You couldn’t ask for better people. They were always looking out for you.”

Some eight months after Kevin Heatley’s death corporal Francis Foxford, a member of the Royal Hampshire Regiment was charged with the manslaughter of the boy. Foxford went for trial in March 1974. At his trial he claimed a crowd attacked his patrol and a ‘small person’ fired him on and he returned fire. Civilian witnesses giving evidence rejected the claims of Foxford and his colleagues.

The trial judge found corporal Foxford guilty of the lesser charge of unlawful killing and sentenced to three years imprisonment. The judge in his summing up described Foxford’s evidence as unreliable and unsatisfactory, and said that other soldiers had also given false evidence to the court to protect Foxford.

Shortly after he was sentenced Foxford was transferred to a prison in England. On his arrival there he immediately lodged an appeal against his conviction and was given bail.

In June 1974 Foxford returned to Belfast to have his case heard in the Court of Criminal Appeal. The appeal went in his favour and the conviction was quashed. The judges said the reason for the decision were ‘irregularities in Crown procedure at the trial and it was impossible to say that the conviction would inevitably have followed had the irregularities not occurred.’

The ‘irregularities’ the judges spoke of involved the Crown Prosecution closing its case against the accused without tendering the evidence of two British army witnesses, which, the appeal judges said ‘introduced an impunity into the stream of justice which no procedural step could thereafter extract.’

Foxford was therefore released and returned to England and his regiment.

Over 18 months after Kevin’s death his mother Kathleen was given £943 compensation by the Northern Ireland Office for the lost of her son. Mrs Heatley later said she felt physically sick when she returned home that day from the court.

After Foxford’s release on a technicality no other British soldiers were charged in connection with the killing of Kevin Heatley.

In 2012 it was announced that the Historical Enquiries team was to investigate the 1973 killing.

Four years later the families of Christopher Quinn and Kevin Heatley along with the Pat Finucane Centre utilised Advans in London to highlight the murders of their relatives and the appalling treatment they endured after the killings, in response to Theresa May's comments on those pushing for human rights.

Speaking to the Newry Democrat on the same day an ex-soldier received a suspended sentence for the killing of a man near a checkpoint in Aughnacloy, Co Tyrone, Martin Heatley says his family have been through enough in the pursuit of justice.

“The Pat Finnucane Centre are trying to get the case re-opened but I believe the time is right to let it go now.

“They want the soldier brought up for the killing of Kevin but as a family we have went through a lot and now it all too much for us.”

Martin concluded: “I am looking forward to meeting up with the rest of the family but rather it was under different circumstances.”