October 19 1974
The fatal shooting of 16-year-old Newry boy Michael Hughes, by Marine Commandos near the Derrybeg estate, was being labelled “murder” last night by local SDLP and Republican Club councillors, who stressed that he was shot in the back.
There was conflict between the British Army statement and local residents’ reports as to whether Hughes was armed at the time.
In a statement last night, the military said that members of an observation post saw three gunmen brandish weapons at a bus.
“The security forces fired one shot at one of the armed men who fell to the ground. The two other gunmen ran away into the Derrybeg estate and people from the estate dragged the wounded gunman away,” according to the army.
Just over two years ago, Michael Hughes’s father, Mr Patrick Hughes, was killed when a bomb exploded prematurely at the Newry customs clearance station. A total of nine people were killed in the explosion. Mr Hughes’s body was never recovered.
One eye-witness of yesterday’s shooting described how a group of unarmed youths approached a bus which had stopped on the Camlough Road opposite Derrybeg.
“At that moment soldiers of the Royal Marine Commando Regiment rushed from a concealed position in an adjacent field and raced across the Camlough Road,” said the witness.
The witness, who did not wish to be identified, said: “The youths turned and fled and as they ran, one soldier opened fire, hitting Hughes, who was at the rear.”
He said that as a local woman tried to place a crucifix on the dying youth’s lips and breathe a prayer into his ear, she was ordered away by the troops. At that point Hughes was still alive.
The witness added that the youths seemed to be intent on hijacking the bus and that the troops seemed to have been lying in wait for such an eventuality.
Republican Clubs councillor Mr Noel Collins said that when he arrived at the estate, soldiers had saturated every avenue and were intimidating women and youths.
Mr Collins said he called on the local RUC to demand the removal of soldiers from the streets.
A spokesman for the command staff of the Provisional IRA in Newry said Hughes was a volunteer, but he was not armed when he was shot.
Newry teenager Michael Hughes was shot dead by British soldiers two years after his father Patrick was killed by his bomb prematurely exploding at Newry Customs station.
