A British soldier is accused of the murder of Thomas Reilly.
Private Ian Richard Thain of the 1st Light Infantry Regiment, based at Fort Whiterock in Belfast appears in court charged with the murder of Thomas Reilly, also known as Kidso, on 9 August 1983.
The court hearing was brief and Private Thain wasn’t asked to reply to the murder charge.
The magistrate granted the 18 year old bail of £100. Ian Thain was remanded in military custody for a month after an officer from his regiment gave an undertaking to the court that he would not be taken outside Northern Ireland jurisdiction.
Clearly the RUC had hoped that this court appearance as well as the speed with which it had taken place would ease tension in west Belfast.
However by lunchtime over 200 people including family and friends of Thomas Reilly gathered to place wreaths at the place where he was shot. A minutes silence was held.
It was clear that feeling still ran high and that the bail of £100 rankled.
Following the wreath laying ceremony the anger felt by locals, heightened by the presence of British soldiers near the Reilly home, came to a head. Youths hijacked a lorry to use as a burning barricade.
Testify that charging a British soldier in court won’t in their view provide a solution.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 10 August 1983. The reporter is Poilín Ní Chiaráin.
In December 1984 Private Ian Thain received a guilty verdict and a life sentence for the shooting of Thomas Reilly. He was the first British soldier to be convicted of murder while on duty in Northern Ireland. Ian Thain was released within 22 months on licence and reinstated in his regiment.
