Bloody Sunday victim killed before buying mother birthday gift

One of the teenagers shot dead on Bloody Sunday gave his mother moneyfor her birthday and promised to return with a gift, his…

One of the teenagers shot dead on Bloody Sunday gave his mother moneyfor her birthday and promised to return with a gift, his sister saidtoday.

The promise was disclosed by Mrs Mary Bonner, whose brother Mr HughGilmour (17) was one of 13 men killed when British army paratroopers opened fire in Derry's Bogside.

She told the Saville Inquiry she had witnessed other shootings from her home in the RossvilleFlats.

She said as she looked down from a window in the flat that afternoonshe saw the feet and legs of her dead or dying brother, unaware ofwho he was because the rest of his body was obscured from view.

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Mrs Bonner, who gave evidence to the original Widgery Inquiry intothe shootings 29 years ago claimed the questioning she underwent thenabout her brother was "extremely unfair" and she denied that he wasarrested for rioting and attacking troops in October 1970.

She was one of four witnesses who took the stand today and describedthe killing of Mr Jackie Duddy (17) - the first person to die onBloody Sunday - as he ran away from troops coming into the area.

Another witness was Ms Cathleen O'Donnell, who said her parents hid her shoes on Bloody Sunday to prevent her from attending the march. Mrs O'Donnell, who was a teenager then, eventually found a pair of red wooden sandals and slipped out the flat - also in the Rossvillecomplex.

She said she saw Mr Duddy shot in the car park beneath her and thethen Fr Edward Daly - later Bishop of Derry - going to his aid wavinga white handkerchief.

The Inquiry, chaired by Lord Saville of Newdigate resumes tomorrow.

PA