"Deep Regret" Felt By British Government

The British government has expressed "deep regret" at the death of a Tyrone man who was shot by a soldier 21 years ago.

Twenty-three-year-old Aidan McAnespie was killed as he walked through a border checkpoint at Aughnacloy in February 1988.

In a statement which was co-signed by Northern Secretary of state Shaun Woodward and Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth, Woodward said the government recognized the "suffering" of the man's family.

The soldier who was responsible for the killing claimed that his hands were wet, causing him to accidentally fire the machine-gun when he was moving it inside a sanger.

However, this was deemed to be the "least likely version" of what happened according to a report released last year by the PSNI Historical Enquires Team.

They concluded that the most probable explanation for the killing was that a shot was fired deliberately, or that the soldier was "tracking" McAnespie with his weapon aimed and was unaware of its position when the trigger was pulled.

The McAnespie family met with Mr Woodward this week to discuss the report.

Sinn Fein's Michelle Gildernew said it was "significant" that the British government had expressed regret about the killing but also remarked, "It's a disgrace that it has taken 20 years of campaigning to get the British government to this point."

McAnespie had claimed that he had been threatened on several occasions by security force members in the months prior to his killing.

The soldier responsible was charged with manslaughter but this was later withdrawn.

He was later fined for negligent discharge of a weapon and given a medical discharge from the army.