Kathleen Thompson

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Psni Police Service Of Northern Ireland And Royal Ulster Constabulary Ruc Coroners Court For Northern (IRELAND)

Offense Location:

Londonderry, Northern Ireland

Summary:

47-year-old Kathleen Thompson was killed by a bullet to the chest in Londonderry on November 6, 1971. She was unarmed and had been in her back garden banging a bin lid or other object to alert neighbours to the presence of soldiers in the area. A 2022 inquest ruled the fatal shots were fired by Soldier D in circumstances unjustified, with the coroner stating she could not be satisfied that Soldier D held an honest belief he was under fire.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Offense:

During the early hours of November 6 1971, 200 members of the Royal Green Jackets, a regiment of the British Army, moved into Creggan to search a house in Rathlin Drive, with instructions to arrest any males there. As they were leaving the area, empty handed, a soldier opened fire, shooting dead Kathleen Thompson, a 47-year-old mother of six children who was standing in her back garden at 129 Rathlin Drive. She was killed instantly by a single shot in the chest. She was shot and fatally wounded at around midnight on 5/6 November 1971, whilst in the rear garden of her home at 129 Rathlin Drive, Derry. Two bullets were fired by someone identified only as soldier D into her garden in Rathlin Drive, Creggan, as he and others were withdrawing from the area. Her body was found by her 12 year-old daughter, Minty.

Additional Details:

Kathleen Thompson was born on 28 October 1924 at Quarry Street, Derry. She was a housewife, married to Patrick Thompson and together they had six children who at the time of her death were aged between 18 and 7 years of age. The deceased was the mother of six children, David, aged 18, Pat, aged 16 (now deceased), Billy, aged 15, Mary-Louise (Minty) aged 11, Patricia, aged 9 and Erne, aged 7 years. Patrick Thompson was a Boilermaker Welder. Her maiden name was Doherty. The army claimed that two shots were fired at them, and that they had replied with eight shots, one of which killed Kathleen Thompson. Civilian witnesses claim that no shots were fired at the army. An inquest in 1972 into Mrs Thompson's death returned an open verdict. The attorney general ordered a new inquest in 2013. It began in 2018 but was adjourned to allow time to trace three soldiers and resumed on Monday. Judge Crawford said soldier D had presented a "contrived and self-serving account" of what happened. She said that "in all likelihood he was frightened" and had "overreacted to the noise and activity which was prevalent at the time of his withdrawal" from the area. But she said being frightened or panicking "does not begin to justify" the force used by the soldier, who fired a further six shots. On 29 June 2022 the Coroner, Her Honour Judge Sandra Crawford found that the shooting of Kathleen Thompson was not justified and that the soldier's evidence that he felt that he was under fire when he opened fire was "contrived and self serving". The findings were formally referred to the Public Prosecution Service. Kathleen's son Billy sought a judicial review of the decision not to lift the soldier's anonymity, claiming the verdict reached in the inquest should have triggered reconsideration of shielding Soldier D's identity. In November 2024, Mr Justice Scoffield ruled that the coroner ought to have reconsidered the anonymity once the core findings were clear. In May 2025, Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan dismissed the appeal, highlighting the coroner's assessment that finding Soldier D had used unlawful force would only have increased the threat to his life, and that the veteran would be denied the chance to seek anonymity at any future prosecution if identified at that stage.

Case Last Updated:

Jul 24, 2026