A mother whose schoolboy son was killed by a police plastic bullet has said she struggles to find words to convey her anger over the Government’s Legacy Act.
Paul Whitters, 15, died in hospital 10 days after being struck on the head by a baton round fired by a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officer in Derry in April 1981.
His mother Helen said he is “missed every day”.
The family had moved to Derry from Scotland in the years before the incident in Great James Street on April 15 1981.
“Paul was a very sweet child, very loveable and intelligent,” said Mrs Whitters.
“He was loved by all; an inquisitive and curious child and he’s missed every day.
“Paul died in 1981 and I’ve been fighting (for justice) since Paul died, along with my husband (Desmond) who has since passed away.”
The shooting happened after a day of disorder in Derry linked to republican hunger strikes.
In recent years, the family successfully lobbied to secure a confidential file on the incident from the National Archives at Kew in Surrey.
But Mrs Whitters said the document was so heavily redacted the family was left “no wiser”.
“There are still loads of questions that have never been explained,” she said.
“The inquest was a sham, and we have been turned down since and told we can’t have another inquest and now, with May 1 looming, not just me, but all the other people, will be denied (justice).”
Mrs Whitters said the legacy legislation would be “tragic” for many families still seeking the truth.
“You know, sometimes I just can’t find the words to say how terrible this is,” she said of the Act.
“There’s never been any justice for Paul, a 15-year-old boy with his whole life ahead of him who was just tragically taken away by somebody who, for whatever idea he had in his head, shot a schoolboy.”
