The Way this Legal Case of a Former Soldier Regarding the 1972 Londonderry Incident Ended in Not Guilty Verdict
Sunday 30 January 1972 is remembered as arguably the most fatal – and significant – dates during thirty years of conflict in this area.
Within the community of the incident – the images of that fateful day are painted on the buildings and etched in collective memory.
A public gathering was held on a cold but bright afternoon in Derry.
The demonstration was challenging the policy of imprisonment without charges – holding suspects without trial – which had been put in place in response to three years of conflict.
Military personnel from the Parachute Regiment fatally wounded thirteen individuals in the Bogside area – which was, and remains, a strongly republican population.
A specific visual became notably prominent.
Pictures showed a clergyman, Fr Edward Daly, waving a stained with blood white handkerchief while attempting to defend a crowd transporting a teenager, Jackie Duddy, who had been killed.
Media personnel captured much footage on the day.
The archive features Fr Daly telling a reporter that troops "gave the impression they would shoot indiscriminately" and he was "totally convinced" that there was no justification for the gunfire.
This account of the incident wasn't accepted by the original examination.
The Widgery Tribunal found the soldiers had been attacked first.
Throughout the peace process, the ruling party commissioned another inquiry, after campaigning by bereaved relatives, who said the initial inquiry had been a inadequate investigation.
During 2010, the report by Lord Saville said that on balance, the military personnel had discharged weapons initially and that not one of the casualties had posed any threat.
The contemporary Prime Minister, David Cameron, expressed regret in the government chamber – stating deaths were "without justification and unjustifiable."
The police began to investigate the incident.
A military veteran, identified as the accused, was prosecuted for killing.
Indictments were filed regarding the deaths of James Wray, twenty-two, and twenty-six-year-old the second individual.
The defendant was additionally charged of seeking to harm Patrick O'Donnell, other civilians, further individuals, Michael Quinn, and an unnamed civilian.
Remains a court ruling preserving the veteran's privacy, which his attorneys have argued is required because he is at threat.
He told the examination that he had solely shot at people who were armed.
That claim was rejected in the final report.
Material from the inquiry was unable to be used straightforwardly as proof in the criminal process.
In court, the veteran was shielded from sight with a blue curtain.
He made statements for the first time in the hearing at a hearing in December 2024, to respond "not responsible" when the charges were presented.
Family members of those who were killed on that day made the trip from the city to the judicial building daily of the proceedings.
John Kelly, whose relative was fatally wounded, said they understood that hearing the trial would be emotional.
"I remember everything in my recollection," John said, as we walked around the key areas mentioned in the trial – from the location, where Michael was fatally wounded, to the adjoining Glenfada Park, where the individual and another victim were fatally wounded.
"It even takes me back to my position that day.
"I assisted with the victim and put him in the ambulance.
"I went through the entire event during the proceedings.
"Notwithstanding enduring the process – it's still valuable for me."