“Soldier D” gives evidence at Derry inquest

A former British soldier has told an inquest into the death of Kathleen Thompson a 47-year-old mother of six in Derry in 1971 that he would be ‘appalled’ if he had fired the shot that had killed the woman.
When pressed by counsel for the Coroner as to his reaction if he had shot Kathleen Thompson the soldier became emotional and agreed he would ‘regret it’.
The soldier said he fired two shots after a shot was fired in his direction from a low velocity weapon.
The soldier was giving evidence from behind a screen and was known as Soldier D.
He said his platoon was tasked to cover another platoon who were trying to carry out an arrest operation in the Creggan area.
In a statement Soldier D said as his platoon retreated he heard the crack of a low velocity round going past his head.
The soldier said he saw ‘flickering lights’ behind a fence and movement from‘ ‘a very dark part of the garden’ of Mrs. Thompson’s house.
He said ‘believing I was under fire I fired two shots in quick succession. ‘
The inquest heard that the soldier said he identified the position where he believed the shot had come which was a fence st the back of the Thompson house.
He was asked if the figure he fired at could have been crouching maybe banging a binlid and he agreed that they may have been.
Mr. Gerry McAlinden for the Coroner asked: “Do you accept at this stage it is likely your bullet that hit Mrs. Thompson?”
The soldier replied: “I have to accept that it was. “
The soldier said not long after returning to camp he was told to report to Battalion Headquarters and wait to be interviewed and he believed that was when he found out about Mrs. Thompson’s death.
The soldier said this was the only occasion during a military career spanning more than twenty years that he had discharged his weapon on duty.
Earlier the inquest had heard statements from various civilians including the dead woman’s husband and a doctor who pronounced her dead.
Mr. Patrick Thompson’s statement recalled how he was looking for his wife and saw her lying in the garden.
The doctor, Dr. Domhnall MacDermott, in his statement said he found what he believed to be an entrance wound on Mrs. Thompson’s shoulder but she was dead when he attended to her.