Murder of Brian Stewart, aged 13: 4 October 1976
Posted on Micheailin's Irish Republican Fenian Blog October 3rd


THE MURDER OF BRIAN STEWART
From Relatives for Justice

Brian Stewart 13 years, Norglen Crescent, Turf Lodge, west Belfast, hit by a plastic bullet near his home on 4 October 1976, fired by members of the British army’s King’s Own Scottish Borders. He died in hospital six days later on 10 October.

Brian was the fifth child in a family with eight children. He attended Holy Trinity Primary School, and Gort Na Mona Secondary School, both in Turf Lodge. Brian’s mother, speaking to Relatives for Justice in the mid 1990s, described her son as the ‘clown of the family.’ She said he loved to climb the mountains that overlooked their home, and on one occasion when he was up on the mountains captured dozens of butterflies and took them to school, where he released them into his classroom to the laughter and joy of classmates. ‘He was the type of child’ she said ‘always messing about, and quick to see the funny side of things.’

Mrs Stewart told the RJF on the day her son was fatally injured he came home from school as usual, watched television for a while and then did his homework. Afterwards he had his tea and then went out to play with his friends at around 6.20pm. Brain she said had only left the house about 10 minutes when a young boy rushed up the pathway of her home shouting for her, and when she came out the boy told her Brain had been hit in the face by a plastic bullet.

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  ¶ 5:57 a.m.