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Today 28 February 2023 marks 50 years since Kevin Heatley was shot dead by a British soldier on Main Avenue in Derrybeg, aged just 12 years old. Although it was just one of many tragic deaths in the Newry area during the troubles, the death of someone so young and not yet in his teens was particularly difficult for the Derrybeg community at the time. Family members and friends gathered at the spot on Main Avenue on Saturday night past to remember Kevin.
A pupil of St Joseph's Secondary School Kevin was shot just after midnight on 28 February 1973 by a soldier from the Royal Hampshire Regiment. He was sitting on a wall when he was shot by the soldier who claimed that he was fired on from the corner of Main and Third Avenue in Derrybeg, something that witnesses disproved having heard only one shot and not two.
Corporal Francis Foxford was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to three years but his sentence was quashed on appeal. The British Government offered compensation of £750!
