Not guilty verdict in Bloody Sunday murder trial

A former member of the Parachute Regiment has been found not guilty of murder and attempted murder in Londonderry on Bloody Sunday in 1972.

Thirteen people were shot dead and at least 15 others injured on Bloody Sunday in January 1972 at a civil rights demonstration in the Bogside area of Derry.

Soldier F, whose anonymity is protected by a court order, faced charges of murdering James Wray, 22, and William McKinney, 26, as well as five charges of attempted murder.

The judge said members of the Parachute Regiment had shot unarmed civilians as they ran away, but the evidence against Soldier F had fallen well short of what is required for conviction.

Judge Patrick Lynch told Belfast Crown Court that the members of the Parachute Regiment who had entered Glenfada Park North on Bloody Sunday had “totally lost all sense of military discipline”.

They had, the judge said, shot “unarmed civilians fleeing from them on the streets of a British city.

“Those responsible should hang their heads in shame,” he said.

Speaking outside court William McKinney’s brother Mickey said the verdicts marked the “end of prosecution of Soldier F for murder and attempted murder of the innocents on Bloody Sunday”.

“The families and wounded and their supporters leave this courthouse with an incredible sense of pride of our achievements,” he said.

Liam Wray, brother of Jim Wray, welcomed the judge’s criticism of the soldiers on Bloody Sunday, adding it was a “tough, sad and emotional” day for the family.

He said that justice had not been achieved, but that he “appreciated the difficulties the judge faced in the case”.

Northern Ireland’s veterans’ commissioner David Johnstone said the trial had brought into focus the “deep pain” events of 50 years ago still cause.

He said the Bloody Sunday families and all families who lost relatives in the Troubles, “continue to experience pain” adding “we should not forget that today.”

First Minister Michelle O’Neill said it was “deeply disappointing” that the Bloody Sunday families faced a “continued denial of justice”.

“For more than five decades, they have campaigned with dignity and resilience for justice for their loved ones, their deeply cherished sons and fathers, uncles and brothers,” the Sinn Féin deputy leader said.

She added: “I extend my full solidarity to the families and to the wider community of Derry who will be hurting today.”

Foyle Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) MP Colum Eastwood said it was a “difficult day” for the Bloody Sunday families, but said they could “hold their heads up high”.

“These were innocent people, no weapons, just on a civil rights march, mowed down by the parachute regiment of the British army. That’s what happened and that’s absolutely clear,” he said.

Eastwood added: “Everybody now knows what happened on Bloody Sunday. Everybody knows the victims were innocent and everybody knows where the guilt actually lies.”

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Gavin Robinson said he welcomed the “common sense judgement”.

Robinson said the trial had been a “a painful and protracted process”.

“There needs to be a better way of dealing with the legacy of the past and to ensure no rewriting of it,” he said.

Doug Beattie of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) said questions should be asked as to how the case had gone to trail when “the evidence was so clearly flawed”.

“Yet again, those who work in our justice system must answer questions… they would have known, without a doubt, that the evidence was unsafe and could not be relied on in court,” Beattie said.

Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) MP Jim Allister said Soldier F’s acquittal was “most welcome”, but that it also “raises the fundamental question of why this veteran was put through the ordeal of the last few years”.

The British government said it noted Thursday’s judgement, adding the Ministry of Defence (MoD) had “provided legal and welfare support throughout”.

“This case is part of the complex legacy of the Troubles, which affected so many families and communities.

“We are committed to finding a way forward that acknowledges the past, whilst supporting those who served their country during an incredibly difficult period in Northern Ireland’s history,” a government spokesperson said.

A public inquiry, which concluded in 2010, found that none of the people who were killed posed any threat to the Army.

Soldier F is the only military veteran who has been prosecuted over the shootings.

The five charges of attempted murder related to two teenagers at the time 16-year-old Joe Mahon and 17-year-old Michael Quinn as well as Joseph Friel, who was 20, and Patrick O’Donnell, 41, and an unknown person.

The case was heard by a judge sitting without a jury at Belfast Crown.

The trial began on 15 September and lasted five weeks.

To protect his identity, Soldier F was screened from public view and his name not disclosed, as a result of a court order.

The decision to charge Soldier F was taken by the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) in 2019.

He was one of 18 former soldiers reported to the PPS as a result of a police investigation, which followed the public inquiry into Bloody Sunday conducted by Lord Saville.

But he was the only one charged.

Two years later, the PPS dropped the case after the collapse of the trial of two other veterans who had been accused of a 1972 murder in Belfast.

But the prosecution resumed in 2022 after a legal challenge.