'Police apology too little, too late,' says brother of first child killed in Troubles

An apology from police to the family of the first child killed in the Troubles in Northern Ireland has been described by his brother as "bittersweet and too little, too late".

Nine-year-old Patrick Rooney, the oldest of six, was shot in front of the rest of his family while taking shelter in a bedroom in the Divis flats in August 1969.

Outside, Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers had opened fire from vehicle-mounted machine guns to to disperse rioters.

The family will receive "significant compensation," the High Court heard on Thursday.

The settlement was announced in the legal action taken by the boy's 88-year-old mother against the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

She was not able to attend court due to ill health.

Patrick's brother Con, who was eight at the time of the killing, said the apology and compensation brought some closure for the family, but "we still feel we've been denied justice".

Patrick had taken shelter along with his five siblings and their parents in a bedroom at their home.

Up to 200 high velocity rounds were discharged by police, striking a number of properties in the tower.

Patrick was shot through the head.

His parents were unable to secure medical assistance at the scene and his father and other members of the public had to carry him from the area to reach an ambulance.

Describing the events of the night his brother died, Mr Rooney said: "We were all brought in to the back room to shelter and a couple of minutes later we could just see all the red flashes and my father turned round and said to my mother 'Alice I've been shot'.

"It was actually a bullet had grazed him and my mummy got a graze across the cheek."

He said his mother then looked over and thought Patrick had fainted.

"She went to lift him and she'd a coat on and whenever she looked at her arm it was covered in blood.

"Patrick was put on the bed and my mummy ran down the stairs screaming."

Mr Rooney said an ambulance couldn't get to the house so his father and neighbours carried Patrick to where they could get one, but he died in hospital around two hours later.

He said after the funeral "when we went back to the flat, we [he and his siblings] wouldn't go upstairs for months, we had to sleep in the living-room, on the floor, because we were too afraid to go up the stairs because we thought he was still up the stairs."

On Thursday, the judge called on the authorities to fast-track the undisclosed settlement, and an apology was issued for the hurt and suffering and loss caused to the family.

The family's lawyers said the RUC took steps to prevent an adequate or effective probe into the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

A police ombudsman report in 2021 into the killing of Patrick and three others found that officers were never held to account due to investigative failings.

The ombudsman also stated the use of vehicle-mounted machine guns by officers to deal with rioting in Belfast in 1969 was "disproportionate and dangerous".

No former officers were prosecuted due to a lack of evidence.

His mother Alice sued the PSNI chief constable over both the shooting and the failure to conduct an effective inquiry or discipline the officers responsible.

Damages were sought for negligence, breach of statutory duty, assault and battery, conspiracy to commit an unlawful act, and misfeasance in public office.

Under the terms of the resolution an apology was read out in open court. It stated: "As a result of negotiations, the plaintiff Mrs Rooney, has agreed a satisfactory full and final settlement of this action with the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

"The PSNI acknowledges the hurt and suffering caused to the family and wishes to sincerely apologise for the loss they endured."

Formal authorisation for the undisclosed damages is still to be obtained from the Policing Board, along with the Department of Justice and Department of Finance at Stormont.

"The trauma this must have resulted in (for the family) is just unimaginable," Mr Justice Rooney said.

The family's solicitor, Katie McAllister of Madden and Finucane, said it had taken 56 years for a chief constable to offer an apology for the unlawful death.

"This occurred in the most violent, indiscriminate and in fact avoidable circumstances," she stressed.

"Patrick was killed in his own bedroom, the very place that he should have been most safe from danger."