The Way this Trial of a Former Soldier Regarding Bloody Sunday Ended in Not Guilty Verdict
Sunday 30 January 1972 stands as among the deadliest β and momentous β occasions in three decades of unrest in Northern Ireland.
Throughout the area where it happened β the images of Bloody Sunday are visible on the walls and etched in collective memory.
A public gathering was held on a cold but bright afternoon in Derry.
The march was opposing the policy of detention without trial β holding suspects without due process β which had been implemented after multiple years of conflict.
Soldiers from the Parachute Regiment killed multiple civilians in the Bogside area β which was, and still is, a overwhelmingly nationalist community.
A particular photograph became notably iconic.
Pictures showed a Catholic priest, the priest, using a blood-stained fabric while attempting to shield a crowd moving a youth, Jackie Duddy, who had been fatally wounded.
Journalists documented much footage on the day.
Documented accounts contains the priest explaining to a journalist that soldiers "just seemed to shoot indiscriminately" and he was "completely sure" that there was no provocation for the discharge of weapons.
That version of the incident wasn't accepted by the first inquiry.
The initial inquiry determined the Army had been shot at first.
Throughout the resolution efforts, Tony Blair's government commissioned another inquiry, after campaigning by surviving kin, who said the first investigation had been a whitewash.
That year, the conclusion by Lord Saville said that on balance, the paratroopers had fired first and that zero among the victims had presented danger.
The then head of state, the leader, expressed regret in the House of Commons β saying killings were "improper and unacceptable."
The police began to examine the events.
One former paratrooper, referred to as Soldier F, was charged for killing.
Accusations were made over the fatalities of James Wray, twenty-two, and in his mid-twenties the second individual.
Soldier F was also accused of trying to kill several people, Joseph Friel, Joe Mahon, an additional individual, and an unnamed civilian.
There is a legal order protecting the defendant's privacy, which his legal team have argued is essential because he is at risk of attack.
He stated to the examination that he had exclusively discharged his weapon at persons who were armed.
That claim was disputed in the concluding document.
Material from the investigation was unable to be used immediately as evidence in the criminal process.
In court, the accused was screened from view with a blue curtain.
He made statements for the first time in the hearing at a session in that month, to reply "not responsible" when the charges were presented.
Kin of the deceased on that day journeyed from the city to the courthouse each day of the trial.
One relative, whose relative was died, said they understood that listening to the proceedings would be difficult.
"I remember the events in my recollection," John said, as we visited the primary sites discussed in the case β from the street, where Michael was shot dead, to the nearby Glenfada Park, where James Wray and another victim were died.
"It reminds me to my location that day.
"I helped to carry my brother and put him in the ambulance.
"I went through the entire event during the proceedings.
"Notwithstanding experiencing everything β it's still valuable for me."