How this Legal Case of an Army Veteran Over the 1972 Londonderry Incident Concluded in Case Dismissal
Sunday 30 January 1972 is remembered as among the most deadly – and significant – days in thirty years of violence in Northern Ireland.
Within the community of the incident – the images of the tragic events are displayed on the buildings and seared in public consciousness.
A protest demonstration was held on a cold but bright day in the city.
The demonstration was challenging the policy of internment – imprisoning people without due process – which had been implemented following three years of conflict.
Troops from the Parachute Regiment killed multiple civilians in the Bogside area – which was, and continues to be, a strongly republican community.
A specific visual became particularly prominent.
Photographs showed a clergyman, Fr Edward Daly, using a blood-stained white handkerchief while attempting to shield a group transporting a teenager, the injured teenager, who had been mortally injured.
News camera operators documented considerable film on the day.
Documented accounts includes Fr Daly telling a journalist that military personnel "appeared to shoot indiscriminately" and he was "totally convinced" that there was no provocation for the gunfire.
That version of events was rejected by the initial investigation.
The initial inquiry found the military had been fired upon initially.
During the peace process, the ruling party set up a new investigation, in response to advocacy by surviving kin, who said the initial inquiry had been a cover-up.
In 2010, the conclusion by Lord Saville said that overall, the paratroopers had fired first and that none of the individuals had posed any threat.
The contemporary Prime Minister, the leader, apologised in the House of Commons – saying killings were "without justification and unacceptable."
Authorities commenced investigate the events.
An ex-soldier, identified as the defendant, was charged for homicide.
Accusations were made regarding the fatalities of the first individual, twenty-two, and 26-year-old another victim.
The accused was further implicated of seeking to harm multiple individuals, Joseph Friel, further individuals, Michael Quinn, and an unnamed civilian.
Remains a legal order preserving the defendant's anonymity, which his attorneys have maintained is necessary because he is at danger.
He stated to the examination that he had solely shot at people who were possessing firearms.
This assertion was disputed in the final report.
Material from the inquiry could not be used directly as evidence in the legal proceedings.
During the trial, the accused was hidden from public behind a blue curtain.
He addressed the court for the first time in the hearing at a session in late 2024, to answer "not guilty" when the accusations were read.
Relatives of the victims on Bloody Sunday journeyed from Derry to Belfast Crown Court every day of the trial.
John Kelly, whose sibling was fatally wounded, said they understood that attending the trial would be emotional.
"I remember everything in my recollection," the relative said, as we walked around the primary sites referenced in the trial – from the street, where the victim was killed, to the nearby the area, where the individual and another victim were died.
"It even takes me back to my position that day.
"I helped to carry my brother and put him in the vehicle.
"I experienced again the entire event during the evidence.
"But even with experiencing the process – it's still worthwhile for me."