Image copyright Pacemaker

The Ballymurphy inquest has heard that a former soldier still thinks about the man he shot dead.

Ten people died in the Ballymurphy area over three days in August 1971.

Witness M3, formerly known as "Soldier B", was giving evidence behind a screen, and his name has not been made public.

The court first heard a detailed statement he gave in October of this year, and also a later statement he gave to the Historical Enquiries Team.

Edward Doherty was shot dead on the Whiterock Road on 10th August 1971 and two members of his family were able to view witness M3 directly in court.

A statement made by the former soldier in recent weeks said he now knows more about the man who died.

"Up until then, he was just a man, but now I know that he had sons, daughters and a wife," he said.

"I still think about that and it upsets me to this day."

The soldier told how he had been in a military tractor trying to clear a barricade across the Whiterock Road, whilst stones, acid bombs and petrol bombs were being thrown at him.

He was a sapper in the Royal Engineers, attached to the Parachute Regiment for a few days, with the specific job of clearing barricades.

He said at one point during this job on the Whiterock Road an explosive device had lifted the cab of his military tractor briefly off the ground.

He described a man throwing two petrol bombs at his vehicle, and says he saw him climb the barricade, and attempt to throw a third petrol bomb at him.

In the days immediately afterwards, he told the Royal Military Police he could positively identify a photograph of Edward Doherty's body, as that man.

M3 said he felt his life was in danger and decided he needed to defend himself.

He says he used his Sterling sub machine gun which contained 5 rounds, and fired a single shot at the man's chest, seeing him fall back.

He also described later firing a burst of four shots at a man with a rifle running on nearby waste ground.

M3 was later hit by a missile in his cab he said, and was taken by other soldiers to hospital, where he discovered he wasn't badly hurt.

Decorated

Edward Doherty's family believe he was an innocent bystander.

New witnesses present at the scene that day have come forward in recent months and told the inquest that Edward Doherty was some distance away from the barricade, facing away from it, and had not been throwing petrol bombs at any time.

It emerged in court that the soldier that been awarded the Military Medal for his actions that day, and had attended an investiture at Buckingham Palace.

He also said he sometimes had flashbacks about the incident.

Throughout his first session of evidence Edward Doherty's brother John, and has sister Kathleen McCarry watched the former soldier give evidence and read transcripts of his statements.

Soldier M3 had told the Historical Enquiries Team "there was no intention on my part to kill Doherty for any other reason than self defence".

Later the court, watched a clip from a BBC Panorama Programme in which the soldier had taken part.

The picture had been adjusted so his face was not identifiable.

In it, the soldier described firing at the two men during the incident, and claimed that the man with the rifle had fired a shot which hit his cab.

M3 told the court that he could not remember taking part in the programme, nor why or when he had participated.