How the Legal Case of an Army Veteran Regarding the 1972 Londonderry Incident Ended in Not Guilty Verdict
January 30th, 1972 is remembered as one of the deadliest – and significant – days in multiple decades of conflict in the region.
In the streets where events unfolded – the images of Bloody Sunday are visible on the walls and etched in collective memory.
A civil rights march was organized on a chilly yet clear period in the city.
The protest was opposing the policy of detention without trial – detaining individuals without legal proceedings – which had been implemented following three years of violence.
Soldiers from the Parachute Regiment fatally wounded thirteen individuals in the district – which was, and still is, a overwhelmingly republican area.
One image became notably prominent.
Images showed a Catholic priest, Father Daly, displaying a bloodied white handkerchief as he tried to protect a assembly carrying a youth, the injured teenager, who had been killed.
Media personnel captured considerable film on the day.
Historical records includes Father Daly telling a journalist that troops "gave the impression they would discharge weapons randomly" and he was "totally convinced" that there was no provocation for the shooting.
That version of the incident wasn't accepted by the initial investigation.
The Widgery Tribunal found the soldiers had been fired upon initially.
Throughout the negotiation period, Tony Blair's government established another inquiry, in response to advocacy by family members, who said Widgery had been a whitewash.
That year, the conclusion by Lord Saville said that overall, the soldiers had discharged weapons initially and that zero among the victims had been armed.
The contemporary Prime Minister, David Cameron, issued an apology in the House of Commons – saying deaths were "without justification and inexcusable."
Authorities started to examine the incident.
One former paratrooper, known as Soldier F, was charged for homicide.
Indictments were filed concerning the deaths of the first individual, in his twenties, and twenty-six-year-old another victim.
The defendant was also accused of attempting to murder Patrick O'Donnell, Joseph Friel, more people, an additional individual, and an unnamed civilian.
Exists a legal order maintaining the soldier's anonymity, which his lawyers have maintained is necessary because he is at threat.
He testified the investigation that he had exclusively discharged his weapon at persons who were carrying weapons.
This assertion was disputed in the official findings.
Material from the examination could not be used immediately as testimony in the criminal process.
In court, the veteran was screened from view using a privacy screen.
He addressed the court for the initial occasion in the hearing at a session in that month, to answer "innocent" when the allegations were presented.
Relatives of the deceased on Bloody Sunday travelled from Derry to Belfast Crown Court daily of the case.
One relative, whose sibling was died, said they understood that listening to the proceedings would be emotional.
"I remember all details in my memory," he said, as we examined the main locations discussed in the proceedings – from Rossville Street, where Michael was shot dead, to the adjoining Glenfada Park, where one victim and William McKinney were fatally wounded.
"It reminds me to where I was that day.
"I helped to carry the victim and put him in the medical transport.
"I went through the entire event during the testimony.
"Despite experiencing all that – it's still worthwhile for me."