How this Prosecution of a Former Soldier Regarding the 1972 Londonderry Incident Concluded in Case Dismissal
January 30th, 1972 stands as among the most deadly – and significant – days during three decades of conflict in this area.
Throughout the area where it happened – the memories of the tragic events are visible on the structures and embedded in people's minds.
A civil rights march was conducted on a chilly yet clear afternoon in the city.
The demonstration was opposing the practice of detention without trial – holding suspects without due process – which had been put in place after an extended period of conflict.
Military personnel from the elite army unit killed thirteen individuals in the neighborhood – which was, and continues to be, a strongly republican population.
A particular photograph became particularly memorable.
Images showed a Catholic priest, Fr Edward Daly, displaying a stained with blood white handkerchief in his effort to protect a group transporting a teenager, the injured teenager, who had been mortally injured.
Media personnel documented considerable film on the day.
Documented accounts includes Fr Daly telling a journalist that soldiers "gave the impression they would shoot indiscriminately" and he was "totally convinced" that there was no provocation for the gunfire.
That version of events was disputed by the original examination.
The Widgery Tribunal determined the Army had been shot at first.
Throughout the resolution efforts, Tony Blair's government established another inquiry, following pressure by bereaved relatives, who said the first investigation had been a whitewash.
That year, the report by Lord Saville said that generally, the soldiers had initiated shooting and that zero among the casualties had presented danger.
The then Prime Minister, the Prime Minister, expressed regret in the government chamber – stating fatalities were "unjustified and inexcusable."
Law enforcement commenced look into the events.
An ex-soldier, identified as the accused, was brought to trial for killing.
Indictments were filed concerning the fatalities of one victim, 22, and in his mid-twenties the second individual.
Soldier F was also accused of seeking to harm Patrick O'Donnell, additional persons, more people, an additional individual, and an unidentified individual.
Remains a judicial decision maintaining the veteran's identity protection, which his legal team have argued is necessary because he is at danger.
He testified the Saville Inquiry that he had exclusively discharged his weapon at persons who were carrying weapons.
This assertion was rejected in the concluding document.
Information from the investigation could not be used immediately as testimony in the criminal process.
In the dock, the defendant was hidden from public with a privacy screen.
He spoke for the first time in the proceedings at a hearing in December 2024, to answer "not responsible" when the allegations were presented.
Family members of those who were killed on Bloody Sunday made the trip from Derry to Belfast Crown Court every day of the proceedings.
A family member, whose brother Michael was fatally wounded, said they always knew that listening to the trial would be emotional.
"I remember all details in my memory," the relative said, as we visited the key areas discussed in the trial – from the location, where the victim was fatally wounded, to the nearby the courtyard, where James Wray and the second person were killed.
"It returns me to where I was that day.
"I participated in moving Michael and put him in the ambulance.
"I relived each detail during the proceedings.
"Notwithstanding having to go through all that – it's still worthwhile for me."