🔗 Share this article How this Prosecution of an Army Veteran Over the 1972 Londonderry Incident Concluded in Case Dismissal Protesters in a tense situation with military personnel on Bloody Sunday Sunday 30 January 1972 stands as arguably the most fatal – and momentous – occasions in three decades of unrest in the region. Within the community of the incident – the memories of the tragic events are visible on the buildings and embedded in public consciousness. A civil rights march was conducted on a chilly yet clear afternoon in Derry. The march was a protest against the practice of imprisonment without charges – holding suspects without legal proceedings – which had been put in place following multiple years of violence. A Catholic priest waved a bloodied fabric in an effort to defend a crowd carrying a teenager, Jackie Duddy Troops from the elite army unit shot dead thirteen individuals in the neighborhood – which was, and still is, a overwhelmingly republican area. A specific visual became particularly prominent. Images showed a religious figure, Fr Edward Daly, waving a blood-stained white handkerchief as he tried to defend a crowd carrying a teenager, the injured teenager, who had been fatally wounded. Journalists documented much footage on the day. The archive features Fr Daly explaining to a media representative that military personnel "appeared to shoot indiscriminately" and he was "absolutely certain" that there was no provocation for the shooting. Protesters in the neighborhood being marched towards arrest by British troops on Bloody Sunday This account of the incident was rejected by the original examination. The Widgery Tribunal determined the soldiers had been attacked first. Throughout the peace process, Tony Blair's government set up another inquiry, after campaigning by bereaved relatives, who said the first investigation had been a cover-up. During 2010, the report by the investigation said that overall, the paratroopers had fired first and that zero among the individuals had been armed. At that time head of state, the Prime Minister, apologised in the Parliament – stating deaths were "improper and inexcusable." Relatives of the casualties of the 1972 incident shootings walk from the neighborhood of the city to the civic building carrying images of their loved ones Law enforcement began to examine the incident. An ex-soldier, referred to as Soldier F, was charged for murder. Indictments were filed over the fatalities of James Wray, twenty-two, and 26-year-old another victim. Soldier F was also accused of attempting to murder Patrick O'Donnell, Joseph Friel, more people, another person, and an unnamed civilian. There is a legal order preserving the veteran's anonymity, which his legal team have argued is essential because he is at risk of attack. He told the Saville Inquiry that he had exclusively discharged his weapon at persons who were armed. The statement was disputed in the final report. Information from the examination could not be used immediately as testimony in the criminal process. In court, the accused was shielded from sight with a protective barrier. He addressed the court for the first time in the proceedings at a proceeding in that month, to respond "not guilty" when the accusations were read. Family members and advocates of those killed on Bloody Sunday carry a banner and images of the victims Relatives of the deceased on the incident made the trip from Londonderry to the judicial building every day of the case. One relative, whose sibling was killed, said they always knew that listening to the trial would be painful. "I can see the events in my mind's eye," he said, as we walked around the key areas referenced in the proceedings – from Rossville Street, where the victim was shot dead, to the nearby the courtyard, where James Wray and another victim were died. "It even takes me back to my position that day. "I participated in moving the victim and put him in the ambulance. "I went through the entire event during the testimony. "Notwithstanding enduring everything – it's still meaningful for me."