How the Prosecution of an Army Veteran Regarding Bloody Sunday Ended in Not Guilty Verdict
Sunday 30 January 1972 remains one of the most fatal – and momentous – occasions in multiple decades of unrest in this area.
Throughout the area of the incident – the images of Bloody Sunday are visible on the walls and seared in public consciousness.
A protest demonstration was conducted on a cold but bright period in Londonderry.
The protest was opposing the policy of imprisonment without charges – holding suspects without trial – which had been established in response to an extended period of violence.
Military personnel from the specialized division fatally wounded thirteen individuals in the district – which was, and continues to be, a strongly Irish nationalist population.
One image became particularly iconic.
Pictures showed a religious figure, Fr Edward Daly, waving a blood-stained cloth while attempting to shield a assembly transporting a teenager, Jackie Duddy, who had been mortally injured.
Journalists captured much footage on the day.
The archive includes the priest informing a media representative that military personnel "gave the impression they would discharge weapons randomly" and he was "totally convinced" that there was no justification for the shooting.
That version of the incident was disputed by the initial investigation.
The Widgery Tribunal determined the Army had been attacked first.
In the negotiation period, the administration commissioned another inquiry, in response to advocacy by family members, who said Widgery had been a whitewash.
That year, the findings by the inquiry said that generally, the military personnel had initiated shooting and that zero among the individuals had posed any threat.
The contemporary government leader, David Cameron, expressed regret in the Parliament – saying fatalities were "without justification and inexcusable."
The police started to look into the matter.
An ex-soldier, identified as the accused, was prosecuted for killing.
Accusations were made regarding the killings of James Wray, 22, and twenty-six-year-old William McKinney.
The accused was further implicated of trying to kill Patrick O'Donnell, Joseph Friel, more people, Michael Quinn, and an unknown person.
Remains a court ruling preserving the soldier's identity protection, which his lawyers have argued is essential because he is at risk of attack.
He told the examination that he had exclusively discharged his weapon at individuals who were armed.
The statement was dismissed in the final report.
Material from the inquiry was unable to be used straightforwardly as testimony in the legal proceedings.
In court, the defendant was hidden from public using a protective barrier.
He made statements for the first time in the hearing at a hearing in late 2024, to respond "not responsible" when the accusations were presented.
Relatives of those who were killed on Bloody Sunday journeyed from Londonderry to the courthouse daily of the case.
John Kelly, whose brother Michael was killed, said they understood that attending the trial would be difficult.
"I can see all details in my recollection," John said, as we visited the main locations referenced in the trial – from Rossville Street, where his brother was killed, to the nearby the courtyard, where one victim and another victim were fatally wounded.
"It returns me to where I was that day.
"I participated in moving the victim and put him in the ambulance.
"I relived every moment during the testimony.
"Despite enduring the process – it's still meaningful for me."