The Way this Legal Case of an Army Veteran Over Bloody Sunday Ended in Case Dismissal

Sunday 30 January 1972 is remembered as one of the deadliest – and significant – occasions throughout multiple decades of unrest in the region.

Within the community where events unfolded – the legacy of that fateful day are painted on the structures and embedded in people's minds.

A protest demonstration was conducted on a wintry, sunny period in Derry.

The demonstration was a protest against the system of imprisonment without charges – imprisoning people without trial – which had been established in response to multiple years of unrest.

Troops from the Parachute Regiment fatally wounded multiple civilians in the neighborhood – which was, and remains, a strongly republican population.

A specific visual became particularly memorable.

Pictures showed a religious figure, Father Daly, using a bloodied fabric as he tried to shield a assembly moving a teenager, the fatally wounded individual, who had been killed.

Media personnel captured extensive video on the day.

The archive includes the priest explaining to a journalist that military personnel "just seemed to shoot indiscriminately" and he was "completely sure" that there was no reason for the gunfire.

The narrative of events wasn't accepted by the initial investigation.

The Widgery Tribunal found the Army had been fired upon initially.

In the resolution efforts, the administration commissioned another inquiry, after campaigning by surviving kin, who said the first investigation had been a whitewash.

That year, the report by Lord Saville said that overall, the military personnel had discharged weapons initially and that not one of the casualties had posed any threat.

At that time Prime Minister, the leader, issued an apology in the House of Commons – saying killings were "unjustified and inexcusable."

Authorities commenced look into the events.

An ex-soldier, known as the defendant, was charged for homicide.

Indictments were filed over the killings of the first individual, 22, and twenty-six-year-old another victim.

The defendant was also accused of seeking to harm several people, Joseph Friel, more people, another person, and an unidentified individual.

Exists a legal order maintaining the defendant's privacy, which his legal team have claimed is required because he is at risk of attack.

He testified the Saville Inquiry that he had solely shot at individuals who were carrying weapons.

The statement was dismissed in the official findings.

Evidence from the investigation would not be used straightforwardly as testimony in the legal proceedings.

In court, the veteran was hidden from public with a privacy screen.

He spoke for the first time in the hearing at a hearing in December 2024, to respond "innocent" when the allegations were read.

Family members of the deceased on that day made the trip from Derry to the courthouse daily of the trial.

One relative, whose relative was died, said they were aware that hearing the case would be emotional.

"I remember all details in my recollection," the relative said, as we examined the primary sites discussed in the case – from the street, where Michael was shot dead, to the adjoining the courtyard, where the individual and William McKinney were fatally wounded.

"It returns me to where I was that day.

"I participated in moving my brother and lay him in the ambulance.

"I experienced again the entire event during the evidence.

"Notwithstanding experiencing everything – it's still valuable for me."