The Way the Trial of an Army Veteran Regarding the 1972 Londonderry Incident Ended in Case Dismissal
January 30th, 1972 is remembered as one of the most fatal – and significant – occasions throughout multiple decades of violence in this area.
Within the community where events unfolded – the memories of that fateful day are visible on the buildings and etched in public consciousness.
A protest demonstration was conducted on a cold but bright period in Derry.
The demonstration was challenging the practice of imprisonment without charges – imprisoning people without trial – which had been established after three years of conflict.
Soldiers from the specialized division fatally wounded multiple civilians in the district – which was, and still is, a strongly Irish nationalist area.
A particular photograph became especially iconic.
Photographs showed a Catholic priest, Fr Edward Daly, displaying a blood-stained white handkerchief while attempting to shield a group moving a teenager, the fatally wounded individual, who had been fatally wounded.
News camera operators captured considerable film on the day.
The archive includes Fr Daly explaining to a journalist that soldiers "just seemed to fire in all directions" and he was "absolutely certain" that there was no reason for the gunfire.
This account of what happened was rejected by the first inquiry.
The first investigation found the soldiers had been shot at first.
During the negotiation period, Tony Blair's government commissioned another inquiry, following pressure by family members, who said Widgery had been a cover-up.
That year, the report by Lord Saville said that overall, the soldiers had fired first and that zero among the casualties had presented danger.
The contemporary Prime Minister, David Cameron, expressed regret in the House of Commons – declaring killings were "without justification and unjustifiable."
Law enforcement commenced look into the matter.
An ex-soldier, identified as Soldier F, was brought to trial for murder.
He was charged over the deaths of the first individual, 22, and twenty-six-year-old William McKinney.
The defendant was also accused of seeking to harm several people, Joseph Friel, Joe Mahon, another person, and an unidentified individual.
Remains a legal order preserving the soldier's anonymity, which his legal team have maintained is necessary because he is at danger.
He stated to the Saville Inquiry that he had only fired at individuals who were carrying weapons.
That claim was dismissed in the concluding document.
Material from the examination could not be used straightforwardly as testimony in the court case.
During the trial, the veteran was hidden from public with a privacy screen.
He addressed the court for the initial occasion in the proceedings at a session in that month, to reply "innocent" when the charges were read.
Family members of those who were killed on Bloody Sunday travelled from Derry to the courthouse each day of the trial.
A family member, whose relative was killed, said they were aware that listening to the case would be painful.
"I visualize all details in my memory," the relative said, as we visited the main locations referenced in the trial – from the location, where his brother was shot dead, to the nearby the courtyard, where James Wray and William McKinney were killed.
"It even takes me back to where I was that day.
"I participated in moving the victim and lay him in the ambulance.
"I experienced again every moment during the evidence.
"Despite having to go through everything – it's still worthwhile for me."