A senior IRA figure who became one of Britain’s most prized spies in the North has been linked to at least 18 murders.

A Derry coroner yesterday ruled that a schoolboy Manus Deery, 15, was “totally innocent” when he was killed by a bullet fired by a British soldier.

A British soldier who killed a "totally innocent" teenager when he fired close to a crowd of youths in Derry was unjustified in discharging the fatal round, a coroner has ruled.

Outraged human rights campaigners today criticised a decision not to prosecute a soldier who shot dead a Derry schoolboy despite breaching firearms guidelines.