An inquest into the death of a Derry man who it is believed had been hit with a rubber bullet has heard from a ballistic expert that the weapon was “inherently unstable”.
Thomas Friel (21,) from Creggan Heights, died on May 22 1973 a few days after being injured during rioting.
On Wednesday a ballistic expert, Jeffrey Arnold, gave evidence of carrying out tests on rubber bullets.
He described how once a rubber bullet was fired it became unstable and it was “impossible to take an aimed shot.”
The expert said that it was difficult to aim at a target due to the nature of the weapon.
In response to questions from David Heraghty KC for the Friel family, Mr Arnold said his work tried to replicate what happened to the skull when it was struck by a rubber bullet.
Liam McCollum KC, representing the Ministry of Defence, asked the ballistic expert was he aware how many rubber bullets had been fired in the five year period they were in operation in Northern Ireland until 1975.
Mr Arnold said that 55,834 had been fired and there were three known deaths including Mr Friel’s.
He added that one of the problems with the rubber bullet was that it was fired from a gun not designed for this purpose.
The expert said that rubber bullets were fired from a gun designed to fire CS gas canisters.
The inquest is expected to conclude the evidence phase this week.