Ten people killed in shootings in Northern Ireland when British troops opened fire 'were innocent', a coroner has ruled.
Coroner Mrs Siobhan Keegan attributed nine of the ten shootings in Belfast in 1971 to the British Army and said the use of lethal force by soldiers was not justified.
The inquests focused on five separate incidents.
The first was the shooting of parish priest Father Hugh Mullan, 38, and Frank Quinn, 19, in the Springfield Park area of Ballymurphy around 9pm on August 9.
In the second incident, that happened around the same time outside an army barracks at the Henry Taggart Hall on Divismore Park, Noel Philips, 19, Joseph Murphy, 41, Joan Connolly, 44, and Daniel Teggart, 44, were fatally wounded by gunfire.
In the third incident, the following day, Eddie Doherty, 31, died after being shot on the Whiterock Road as he came across an encounter between soldiers and protesters who had erected a barricade across the road.
In the fourth incident, on the third day of shooting, Joseph Corr, 43, and John Laverty, 20, were shot in the Whiterock Road area in the early hours of the morning. Mr Corr died 16 days later from his injuries.
In the fifth incident, former soldier John McKerr, 49, was shot later that morning on Westrock Drive close to Corpus Christi Church as he took a break from maintenance work. He died of his injuries on August 20.
In respect of the first incident, the coroner said Fr Hugh Mullan and Frank Quinn were killed by shots fired by soldiers and that the force used was not justified.
She said she was satisfied both entered the field to assist an injured man.
While the coroner said there was evidence of a small number of IRA gunmen in the wider area on the day, she said this did not apply to the waste ground when the men were shot.
She said neither man was armed and they were not in the vicinity of someone with a gun.
Mrs Justice Keegan said there was evidence that the priest had been waving a white item, either a handkerchief or T-shirt.
She said the use of force used by the Army was disproportionate in the circumstances, further noting the soldiers were firing from protected positions from a long distance away and the fact there were many civilians in the field fleeing from violence that was unfolding elsewhere.
She said the state had failed to demonstrate that its use of force had been justified.
The coroner also rejected a suggestion from the Ministry of Defence that the men may have been shot by a UVF sniper from the nearby Springmartin area.
Mrs Justice Keegan said she had been unable to identify which soldiers fired the fatal shots.
The conclusion of her findings were met with applause by family members in court.
