A father of two yesterday spoke of his relief that a murder charge which has been hanging over him has finally been dropped by the British government after almost 20 years.
Mr Gerry McGowan (37), from Derry, was charged with three others with the murder of a British soldier in the city on St Valentine's Day 1979, but jumped bail and fled to the Republic.
Mr McGowan and his three co-accused, Mr Michael Toner, Mr Stephen Crumlish and Mr Gerard Kelly, always maintained their innocence.
The four men have cleared their name after a court hearing on December 21st when Northern Ireland's Lord Chief Justice Carswell directed the charges against them be dropped.
"It's a huge relief . . . Having a murder charge hanging over me has been like a black cloud over my life for the past 20 years," Mr McGowan said.
The charge forced Mr McGowan to give up a promising soccer career with Leicester City, with which he had signed professional forms in 1978 when he was 16.
"I signed the contract within three days. Gary Lineker was there at the time and he had to go through his full two-year apprenticeship before he signed professional forms," he said.
"I came back to Derry in January 1979. I was homesick and I was arrested in February, but Leicester still renewed my contract even though I was facing a murder charge," he said.
Mr McGowan and the other three were remanded in custody for seven weeks before being granted bail, but they fled south in 1980.
The four had been offered a deal by the prosecution that they would get 15 years in return for a plea, but they rejected it and decided to flee to the Republic.
After spending a few months in Donegal, Mr McGowan lived in Dublin for 12 years before moving to Killarney, Co Kerry, where he now lives. He has been unable to return to Derry for almost 20 years because of the warrants for his arrest. He was forced to miss his mother's burial in Derry.
Mr McGowan was 17 when arrested by the RUC and brought to Strand Road RUC station in Derry. He claims he was tortured mentally into signing a confession to the shooting.
"They threatened to shoot my parents and rape my 14-year-old sister and said they would have me shot and it would appear in the papers, that the UVF would claim responsibility.
"What makes it ridiculous is the fact that we were all living openly here and the RUC never once tried to extradite us and yet they let the warrants for us remain in operation," Mr McGowan said.