A Belfast teenager shot dead by British soldiers in 1975 was "entirely innocent", a coroner has ruled.
A fresh inquest into the death of Leo Norney, 17, concluded with the finding that he was shot dead by Lance Corporal John Ross MacKay.
The former Black Watch soldier died in 2015.
Coroner Patrick McGurgan found it was likely Mr Norney's killing was a "deliberate act", and that Mr MacKay had expressed his intention to "waste" someone on 13 September 1975.
He said the other soldiers with Mr MacKay shot into a Mini car and gave false accounts of what happened out of fear of him to cover up what happened.
He was also critical of the Ministry of Defence, saying Mr MacKay had been convicted of a violent offence and served time in prison prior to the killing of Mr Norney, adding the soldier posed a risk to the public.
"I am satisfied that the deceased Leo Norney was an innocent young man who happened to find himself in the wrong place at the wrong time walking home from a night out and was shot dead by Lance Corporal MacKay, who planned to waste someone that very evening and expressed his thought to others in the patrol," he said.
Counsel for the Norney family Fiona Doherty KC described the findings as "devastating" and thanked the coroner.
The original inquest into Mr Norney's death in 1976 returned an open verdict.
A statement was read to the media by Leo Norney's niece Linda Norney, outside Laganside Court Complex after the Coroner delivered his findings.
Ms Norney, said: "Today, we, the family of Leo Norney who was shot and killed by the Black Watch regiment of the British Army, welcome the Coroner's findings as to how Leo died.
"Leo was only a boy of 17. He had just got out of a taxi and was going to meet his girlfriend.
"Leo was not armed. He did not pose a threat to anyone. He was shot in cold blood and his shooting is unjustified.
"However the British army did not just kill Leo. They also murdered his good name.
"Later that night after the soldiers returned to their base, they concocted a false story which blackened Leo’s name for almost 50 years.
"They said that Leo was a gunman and that Leo had opened fire on them.
"Today, that narrative has been exposed for the deceit and lies that it is, and Leo’s good reputation has been restored.
"It is sad that it was necessary for my family to have to pursue this for so long, but the British Army left our family with no alternative."
Ms Norney added: "Had they had the courage and moral decency to tell the truth in 1975 then this process would not have been necessary.
"Today my family fondly remembers Leo for what he was: an innocent, good hearted, happy go lucky teenage boy.
"We also remember today Leo’s parents; his father Francis died prematurely aged 50 due to the heartbreak he suffered by Leo’s death and his mother, Annie, who campaigned endlessly until her death to clear Leo’s name."
The Norney family’s solicitor Fearghal Shiels of Madden and Finucane said: "This is another clear illustration that the inquest system continues to work for families seeking the truth as to how their loved ones died.
"It is an open and transparent process where documents are scrutinised and witnesses are publicly
examined against all of the available independent and objective evidence.
"Today’s findings are not unique. It is the latest in a series of inquests in which unlawful state killings have been exposed and state cover ups unravelled and no one needs to look any further for the true reason why the British Government is intent in pushing through legislation to end other similar inquests."
