Annette McGavigan’s family obtains British Army documents Preservation Order

The family of Annette McGavigan (14), the Derry schoolgirl killed by the British Army, has secured a Preservation Order for more than 50,000 ‘Operation Banner’ documents. 

Annette was killed by a member of the British Army’s Royal Green Jackets on September 6, 1971.

The Preservation Order encompasses all British Army documents from 1969 to 2007 relating to its role in the conflict in the North.

The documents are currently held by the British Ministry of Defence (MOD) and will have to be retained until 2035, as a result of the Preservation Order issued today. 

Solicitor Patricia Coyle of Harte Coyle Collins, Solicitors and Advocates, who acted on behalf of the McGavigan family, wrote to the Ministry of Defence, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport (SSCMS) on April 17, 2025, requesting an extension of an existing Preservation Order for all MOD ‘Operation Banner’ documents dating from August 1969 to July 2007. 

The previous Preservation Order (2014) had listed the documents to be preserved as including:  ‘Operational briefs and summaries, log sheets, patrol and incident reports from Operation Banner in Northern Ireland’.

It had secured the preservation of ‘approximately 50,000 records comprising operations briefs and summaries, log sheets, patrol and incident reports from Operation Banner’.

The Order stated: ‘These records are those of Operation Banner (British Armed Forces Operation in Northern Ireland from August 1969 to July 2007) and that their retention is required to support ongoing statutory and judicial proceedings’.

This first Preservation Order was issued by the Lord Chancellor as a result of a previous judicial review application by the family of Annette McGavigan in 2014. 

Ms Coyle, said Annette’s family wanted to ensure that the MOD continued to preserve all army documents relating to Operation Banner for the period 1969 to 2007 so that they, and other families seeking information in legacy cases, could “access relevant state materials for the purposes of future legacy inquests, civil actions, and public inquiries”.

Anette’s family was granted a fresh inquest by the North’s Attorney General just minutes after they received a negative prosecution decision from the Public Prosecution Service on April 29, 2024. 

All of this occurred the day before the cut-off date of the Legacy Act 2023, on April 30, 2024. 

Since 2015, fresh evidence, including eye-witness accounts, pathology, and ballistic evidence, had been submitted by the lawyers for the family to the Attorney General for consideration of a fresh inquest which was granted on April 29, 2024. 

The British Secretary of State has publicly committed to honoring the fresh inquests which were directed by the Attorney General before the cut-off date of April 30, 2024. 

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It is understood that there are more than 22 inquests relating to over 40 deaths in  the North still outstanding, with some other previously unallocated legacy inquests also due to be honored.

Speaking to The Derry News on Wednesday, Ms Coyle said: “In 2015 my clients sought the preservation of all relevant Ministry of Defence documents relating to the British army’s activities in Northern Ireland from 1969 to 2007. 

“In particular they wished to secure the preservation of all army documents relating to the killing of their 14 year old sister Annette on September 6, 1971 in Derry so these are available for the fresh inquest they achieved last year,” she added.

“The first Preservation Order for these documents was granted in December 2014 for 10 years. The legal obligation to preserve 50,000 army records relating to Northern Ireland was transferred from the Lord Chancellor to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport in 2015. 

“In April, this year our clients sought a further Preservation Order from the MOD, Lord Chancellor, and SSCMS. Lawyers acting on behalf of the Ministry of Defence have now confirmed that a further 10 year Preservation Order was signed by SSCMS on May 6, 2025. 

“The preservation of these records is of paramount importance for all families in Northern Ireland who seek access to information and truth about the killing of their loved ones in cases involving the army.”