How the Trial of a Former Soldier Regarding Bloody Sunday Ended in Acquittal
Sunday 30 January 1972 stands as arguably the most deadly – and consequential – occasions throughout thirty years of violence in this area.
Within the community of the incident – the legacy of that fateful day are displayed on the walls and seared in collective memory.
A civil rights march was held on a cold but bright period in Londonderry.
The demonstration was challenging the system of imprisonment without charges – holding suspects without due process – which had been implemented in response to multiple years of unrest.
Military personnel from the specialized division shot dead multiple civilians in the district – which was, and continues to be, a predominantly Irish nationalist area.
A specific visual became especially memorable.
Images showed a religious figure, Fr Edward Daly, using a blood-stained fabric while attempting to protect a group carrying a teenager, the fatally wounded individual, who had been mortally injured.
News camera operators captured considerable film on the day.
Documented accounts features Father Daly informing a reporter that military personnel "gave the impression they would shoot indiscriminately" and he was "completely sure" that there was no reason for the gunfire.
This account of events was rejected by the initial investigation.
The Widgery Tribunal found the soldiers had been shot at first.
Throughout the negotiation period, the ruling party commissioned a new investigation, after campaigning by bereaved relatives, who said Widgery had been a whitewash.
During 2010, the report by the investigation said that generally, the paratroopers had fired first and that not one of the individuals had presented danger.
The then Prime Minister, David Cameron, apologised in the Parliament – saying fatalities were "improper and unacceptable."
Law enforcement started to investigate the events.
One former paratrooper, referred to as the defendant, was charged for killing.
Indictments were filed concerning the killings of one victim, 22, and in his mid-twenties the second individual.
The accused was additionally charged of trying to kill several people, additional persons, more people, an additional individual, and an unknown person.
Remains a legal order maintaining the soldier's identity protection, which his legal team have maintained is required because he is at threat.
He told the investigation that he had only fired at individuals who were armed.
That claim was dismissed in the final report.
Material from the inquiry could not be used immediately as testimony in the legal proceedings.
In court, the defendant was hidden from public behind a protective barrier.
He made statements for the first time in the hearing at a proceeding in late 2024, to reply "not responsible" when the allegations were presented.
Family members of those who were killed on Bloody Sunday made the trip from the city to the courthouse daily of the trial.
A family member, whose relative was killed, said they understood that listening to the trial would be painful.
"I can see the events in my mind's eye," the relative said, as we examined the main locations mentioned in the trial – from Rossville Street, where the victim was killed, to the nearby Glenfada Park, where James Wray and William McKinney were died.
"It even takes me back to my position that day.
"I assisted with Michael and put him in the medical transport.
"I experienced again the entire event during the testimony.
"Notwithstanding having to go through all that – it's still valuable for me."
