How this Prosecution of a Former Soldier Over the 1972 Londonderry Incident Concluded in Case Dismissal
January 30th, 1972 stands as among the deadliest – and significant – dates throughout thirty years of unrest in this area.
In the streets of the incident – the legacy of that fateful day are displayed on the walls and etched in people's minds.
A civil rights march was held on a cold but bright afternoon in the city.
The protest was a protest against the system of detention without trial – holding suspects without trial – which had been established in response to multiple years of violence.
Troops from the elite army unit fatally wounded multiple civilians in the Bogside area – which was, and remains, a strongly nationalist community.
A specific visual became notably memorable.
Pictures showed a clergyman, Fr Edward Daly, using a stained with blood white handkerchief in his effort to defend a assembly moving a teenager, the fatally wounded individual, who had been mortally injured.
News camera operators captured much footage on the day.
Documented accounts contains Fr Daly informing a reporter that soldiers "just seemed to discharge weapons randomly" and he was "totally convinced" that there was no provocation for the gunfire.
That version of the incident was rejected by the initial investigation.
The first investigation determined the military had been shot at first.
Throughout the resolution efforts, Tony Blair's government established a new investigation, in response to advocacy by surviving kin, who said the first investigation had been a cover-up.
During 2010, the conclusion by Lord Saville said that overall, the military personnel had discharged weapons initially and that not one of the individuals had been armed.
The contemporary Prime Minister, the Prime Minister, apologised in the government chamber – saying deaths were "unjustified and unacceptable."
The police commenced investigate the incident.
One former paratrooper, referred to as the defendant, was charged for murder.
Indictments were filed over the deaths of James Wray, in his twenties, and in his mid-twenties William McKinney.
Soldier F was additionally charged of attempting to murder several people, additional persons, further individuals, an additional individual, and an unidentified individual.
There is a judicial decision maintaining the defendant's identity protection, which his legal team have claimed is necessary because he is at threat.
He stated to the Saville Inquiry that he had exclusively discharged his weapon at persons who were carrying weapons.
This assertion was rejected in the concluding document.
Material from the examination would not be used immediately as proof in the criminal process.
During the trial, the accused was shielded from sight with a blue curtain.
He spoke for the opening instance in the hearing at a hearing in that month, to respond "not responsible" when the accusations were put to him.
Family members of the victims on that day travelled from Londonderry to Belfast Crown Court daily of the trial.
A family member, whose brother Michael was fatally wounded, said they always knew that attending the case would be difficult.
"I can see the events in my mind's eye," John said, as we walked around the main locations discussed in the case – from the location, where Michael was killed, to the nearby Glenfada Park, where James Wray and William McKinney were killed.
"It reminds me to my position that day.
"I helped to carry the victim and lay him in the medical transport.
"I relived each detail during the testimony.
"Notwithstanding having to go through everything – it's still valuable for me."