Mother to bring legal action over son's killing

Gerard Gibson was shot in the head as he stood talking to friends in the Lenadoon area on July 11 1972.

The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and army initially attempted to claim that Mr Gibson had been an IRA gunman but the claim was subsequently discounted.

The case was recently re-examined by the HET, which was established to re-examine unsolved murders from the Troubles.

The HET investigation found it was not possible to identify the soldier who fired the shot.

The Gibson family rejected the report's findings and have accused the HET of failing in its duty of independence by not informing them that the investigation was being led by a former RUC officer.

Lawyers acting for the teenager's mother Elizabeth Gibson have applied for a judicial review and are asking the courts to order a new inquiry.

The HET said it would be inappropriate to comment as the case is the subject of legal proceedings.

It emerged earlier this year that Gerard Gibson was killed just 24 hours after a secret meeting took place at Stormont Castle involving then secretary of state William Whitelaw, the head of the army in Northern Ireland and the head of the RUC in which it was agreed to grant effective amnesty to soldiers over shooting incidents.

The meeting on July 10 1972, following the end of a short-lived IRA ceasefire 48 hours earlier, was called to discuss the security forces' response.

Minutes of the discussion, unearthed by campaign group Relatives for Justice earlier this year, state: "The army should not be inhibited in its campaign [against the IRA] by the threat of court proceedings and should be suitably indemnified."

Gerard Gibson was one of 79 people killed by the army in 1972, the majority of them civilians and no soldiers faced prosecution for any of the killings.

It was the single bloodiest year of the Troubles, which saw the deaths of 496 people.