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An Army veteran has told a legacy inquest he does not think he is one of three potentially significant ex-military witnesses who the Coroner's Court has been unable to trace.

The former soldier was part of an Army operation in Londonderry in 1971.

During the operation, mother-of-six Kathleen Thompson was shot dead in Rathlin Drive in Creggan.

A soldier, only identified at the inquest as Soldier D, is believed to have fired the fatal shots.

The inquest has statements, made to the Royal Military Police in 1971 by soldiers only identified at the inquest as A, B and C.

The statements indicate the three soldiers were aware of shots being fired by Soldier D.

However, the Coroner's Court has been unable to locate the three soldiers for the current inquest.

The former soldier, who gave evidence on Thursday, said he was sure he was not Soldier A or Soldier B.

A lawyer for Kathleen Thompson's family, Karen Quinliven, read the statement of Soldier C to the witness and said: "That was your statement?"

He replied: "I can't remember what happened."

A barrister for the Ministry of Defence then asked the witness "Are you Soldier C?"

The Army veteran replied: "I can't say for certain if I am or not."

When the barrister subsequently read out the historic statement of Soldier C and asked him a second time "Are you Soldier C?", the witness said: "No, I don't think so, no".

Earlier, the family's lawyer asked the witness if he could provide any more assistance to the coroner and the family of Kathleen Thompson, who were observing the proceedings.

The former soldier said: "No, I can't, sorry".

The inquest continues.