A FORMER British soldier faces prosecution for shooting dead a 15-year-old boy in the north of Ireland today more than 40 years after the killing.

The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) reversed a 2016 decision ruling that Soldier B was not responsible for the death of Creggan teenager Daniel Hegarty who was shot in the early hours of operation motorman on July 31, 1972.

Soldier B also faces charges of wounding with intent for shooting Daniel’s 17-year-old cousin Christopher Hegarty on the same day.

Decisions against prosecution were taken in 1973 and in 2008 following a review of the case by the historical enquiries eam.

The application for prosecution was also knocked back in 2016 but that decision was quashed by the divisional court in 2018.

PPS director Stephen Herron, who conducted a review of the case, said he “gave careful consideration to all of the available evidence” and concluded that it is sufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction.

The decision to prosecute Solider B raised the hopes of 11-year-old Stephen McConomy’s family who today demanded the release of files held by the British government regarding his death in 1981.

Stephen was shot at a point-blank range in the back of his head in Derry by Robert Nigel Englefield from the Royal Anglian Regiment and died three days later.

The prosecution of Daniel’s killer follows the case of Soldier F who faces two murder charges over the Bloody Sunday killings where 13 unarmed civilians died after British soldiers opened fire on a peaceful civil rights march.

The PPS decided not to bring charges against 16 other soldiers involved in the massacre, claiming there was not enough evidence for a reasonable prospect of a successful prosecution in the other cases.