'It’s a justice system but in our case it’s unjust': Family of murdered Derry man Billy McGreanery

Speaking to the Journal moments after the decision by the PPS on Monday, Billy McGreanery and Marjorie Roddy spoke of how they had left no stone unturned in successfully clearing their beloved uncle William (Billy) McGreanery’s name, and in trying to achieve justice for the man who was like a second father to them.

“There was always the possibility of this, you just hoped that it wouldn’t come to this and that they would do the right thing, which they haven’t in my opinion,” Billy said.

Praising the Pat Finucane Centre for all the support given and work undertaken by the organisation, he added: "We haven’t had time to go through the report, but regardless what it says I don’t think they [the PPS] can justify their decision that they have come to today because as I’ve said on many occasions this started off with the police, the RUC in 1971 wanted to prosecute the soldier for murder. A step forward then when the HET (Historical Enquiries Team) re-examined this case (2010) – and by the way my uncle was branded a gunman for 40 years – they found my uncle to be a totally innocent man who posed no threat. That was followed by another internal investigation by they Ministry of Defence themselves and they also came to the conclusion my uncle was unlawfully killed and issued an apology. We then got a public apology from Westminster. So with all these government bodies coming to the exact same conclusion – that Billy was a totally innocent man posing no threat- Billy remains the victim here. He is dead, they know exactly who killed him, they know exactly where he is and everything else… how can you justify that? I am not a learned man in law but I don’t think you have to a learned man in law to see what is right in front of you.”

PPS Assistant Director Martin Hardy in announcing the decision not to prosecute, said it was determined that the available evidence was “insufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction.”The PPS concluded that the separate cases of the killings of Billy McGreanery and Annette McGavigan in 1971 featured “significant evidential difficulties arising from the circumstances in which accounts were taken and recorded, both by the Royal Military Police in 1971, and later by the PSNI’s Historical Enquiries Team”.“In addition, the death of significant witnesses and a failure to conduct effective investigations at the time has undoubtedly hampered more recent investigative efforts and the prosecutorial prospects in these cases.”In the case of William McGreanery, prosecutors, the PPS said “were satisfied that the available evidence was capable of proving that Mr McGreanery was unarmed and presented no threat to any soldier. However, the admissible evidence was insufficient to prove that the reported suspect was the soldier known as Soldier A who was responsible for causing Mr McGreanery’s death.”

Speaking about the impact Billy had on their lives and the devastation wrought after his killing, his nephew said: “We had lost our mother at a very young age, I was a year and four months, Marjorie was the oldest, she was six and Rosemary was four. My father was holding down a job and he had three young children. My father only had one brother and he stepped in to help. My uncle was going with a girl called Frances McLaughlin, he was the manager of a shoe shop and my granny used to say ‘you’re walking the feet of that girl’, and I think the reason was he wanted to try and fulfill his duties to us.”

Billy’s niece Marjorie added: “After Billy was killed, my father believed that as Billy didn’t do anything that this would all come to light. He used to go to Claude Wilton and come in and tell my granny what Claude Wilton had said, and this went on and went on. Within two years of my uncle Billy being shot my daddy was dead. My father was 46 years of age. That meant then my mother, my father and uncle Billy were all dead at that stage.”

For Billy’s mother Madge McGreanery, who only passed away in 1996 at the age of 101, the attempt to blacken her son’s name and memory by claiming falsely that he was a gunman compounded the agony.

"Mud sticks,” Marjorie said. “When they put it in the English newspapers... they killed him and then they took his good name and that to my granny was such a terrible thing. She only had the two sons and lost her two sons and her husband within those two years. She used to always say, ‘it will all come out in the wash’.”

Billy said: “I was 13 when the shooting happened, I was 15 when my father died. I took it very, very badly.”

His sister added: “This is why it has meant to so much to him, because he was the only boy and he carried on what my father started. No matter what he particularly has fought every corner that we could fight to get to here. We can still hold our heads up because we left no stone unturned from our end.”

Her brother agrees: “We have done everything we can possibly do for them to do the right thing and they haven’t done the right thing today. It’s a justice system but in our case it’s unjust. It beggars belief they have come to this decision.

"The only positive I can take out of all this is my uncle Billy was named a gunman and they knew that within hours he wasn’t a gunman... but they never divulged that to the public. He remained a ‘gunman’ because it was convenient for them, it explained the killing for 40 years. Our starting point to prove my uncle innocent which we did. Had we got the prosecution today it would have been the cherry on the cake but we still have the cake.”

"I’m my uncle’s voice. He is a dead man, there’s nobody else can speak for him other than us his loved ones, that’s what I’ve done, and we tried our best for him.”

Billy said he felt so very sorry for other families “who haven’t even gotten off the starting block” and might not now in seeking justice before the Legacy Bill took effect this week.

"I think that is an absolute disgrace, and I don’t care what corner of the community you come from, whether you are orange or green I don’t care you should be entitled to justice. Right is right and wrong’s wrong and that’s that," he said.