How the Legal Case of an Army Veteran Regarding the 1972 Londonderry Incident Concluded in Case Dismissal
January 30th, 1972 is remembered as among the most deadly β and significant β days in three decades of unrest in Northern Ireland.
Throughout the area of the incident β the memories of Bloody Sunday are visible on the buildings and seared in people's minds.
A public gathering was conducted on a chilly yet clear afternoon in Derry.
The march was a protest against the practice of imprisonment without charges β detaining individuals without legal proceedings β which had been established in response to multiple years of unrest.
Military personnel from the Parachute Regiment shot dead thirteen individuals in the Bogside area β which was, and still is, a overwhelmingly nationalist community.
One image became especially iconic.
Pictures showed a clergyman, the priest, waving a blood-stained white handkerchief as he tried to protect a group transporting a young man, the fatally wounded individual, who had been fatally wounded.
Media personnel documented extensive video on the day.
Historical records includes Fr Daly explaining to a media representative that soldiers "appeared to shoot indiscriminately" and he was "absolutely certain" that there was no reason for the shooting.
The narrative of events wasn't accepted by the initial investigation.
The Widgery Tribunal determined the Army had been shot at first.
During the peace process, the ruling party established another inquiry, in response to advocacy by surviving kin, who said the initial inquiry had been a whitewash.
In 2010, the report by the inquiry said that generally, the paratroopers had fired first and that zero among the casualties had presented danger.
The then government leader, the leader, expressed regret in the Parliament β stating fatalities were "without justification and inexcusable."
The police commenced examine the matter.
An ex-soldier, known as the accused, was charged for homicide.
Indictments were filed over the deaths of James Wray, in his twenties, and in his mid-twenties the second individual.
The accused was further implicated of seeking to harm multiple individuals, other civilians, further individuals, another person, and an unidentified individual.
Remains a court ruling maintaining the veteran's anonymity, which his legal team have maintained is essential because he is at threat.
He told the examination that he had exclusively discharged his weapon at people who were carrying weapons.
The statement was disputed in the official findings.
Evidence from the investigation would not be used directly as testimony in the court case.
In court, the veteran was screened from view with a privacy screen.
He spoke for the first time in the hearing at a proceeding in December 2024, to answer "innocent" when the accusations were read.
Family members of those who were killed on Bloody Sunday travelled from Londonderry to the judicial building daily of the proceedings.
A family member, whose relative was killed, said they were aware that listening to the proceedings would be difficult.
"I remember everything in my recollection," the relative said, as we walked around the primary sites mentioned in the proceedings β from the street, where Michael was killed, to the adjoining the area, where James Wray and William McKinney were fatally wounded.
"It even takes me back to my position that day.
"I helped to carry Michael and lay him in the vehicle.
"I went through every moment during the evidence.
"But even with having to go through the process β it's still worthwhile for me."