Families of five people killed by British soldiers in Springhill and Westrock, west Belfast, in July 1972 have been vindicated after 54 years. The victims were Father Noel Fitzpatrick, Paddy Butler, David McCaffrey, Margaret Gargan, and John Dougal. British Army personnel had claimed the dead attacked them.

The killings took place almost a year after the Ballymurphy Massacre in August 1971, when eleven neighbours from the area died during internment raids. Some of those deaths occurred near the Ballymurphy Stream.

The area faced intense British Army occupation in 1969, with troops using local facilities including the Henry Taggart Church Hall. Snipers operated from Corry's Yard, overlooking parts of Springhill and Westrock.

Springhill estate consists of three-storey homes built for young families, many facing unemployment or low-paid work. The estate replaced open fields and a stream that local children used for play.