An ailing former British paratrooper known only as "Soldier F" entered the dock at Belfast Crown Court on Monday for the start of a murder trial over killings during Bloody Sunday in Londonderry, proceedings that reopen one of the most contentious episodes of the Troubles.
The defendant, now in his 70s and described in court as in poor health, is accused of murdering James Wray, 22, and William McKinney, 26, and of attempting to murder at least four other civilians during the events of Jan. 30, 1972. The trial is being heard without a jury and Soldier F has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Observers in and outside court included relatives of those killed on Bloody Sunday and relatives of other victims of army shootings, including families of those shot dead in Ballymurphy in west Belfast in 1971.
Prosecutor Louis Mably KC told the court the case would not be "another inquiry" but would focus on a specific legal question: whether the defendant was criminally responsible for firing at the civilians named in the indictment. He said the prosecution alleges that soldiers in the unit opened fire on unarmed civilians who were running away and that shooting them was "unjustified" and "gratuitous," conduct that he said "disgraced the British Army." "Shooting people as they ran away is an appalling act and disgraced the British Army. It is also murder," Mr. Mably said.
The indictment accuses Soldier F of firing shots in a courtyard known as Glenfada Park North alongside three other soldiers from his platoon. Two of those soldiers are dead; the third is neither a defendant nor a witness in the trial. The charges include attempted murder counts naming Patrick O'Donnell, Joseph Friel, Joe Mahon and Michael Quinn; the prosecution also brought a fifth attempted murder charge relating to "persons unknown." Patrick O'Donnell has since died, and the prosecution said it will hear evidence from the three surviving members of the group named in the charge.
Soldier F, who was shielded in the glass-panelled dock by a black plastic cover to protect his identity, was reported to require comfort breaks at roughly hourly intervals because of his health. Outside court, William McKinney's brother, John McKinney, described the day as "momentous" and other relatives held photographs and carried placards demanding justice.
The case stems from Bloody Sunday, when soldiers of the Parachute Regiment shot 26 unarmed civil rights marchers and bystanders during a protest in the Bogside area of Londonderry. Thirteen people were killed on the day and another later died of wounds. The initial Widgery Tribunal in 1972 largely cleared the soldiers, concluding they had returned fire in self-defence. A later public inquiry led by Lord Saville, which ran for more than a decade and cost about �������������������������������������������� 200 million, reported in 2010 that the victims were innocent. The Saville report prompted a police murder investigation; 18 former soldiers were initially reported to the Public Prosecution Service, but by 2019 only one man was charged.
A separate prosecution of two other former soldiers accused in the 1972 killing of IRA commander Joe McCann collapsed in 2021 after court rules on the admissibility of contemporaneous statements. That decision led to the suspension of further proceedings, but the case against Soldier F was later resumed after a legal challenge by the family of William McKinney.
Supporters of Soldier F, including some Northern Ireland veterans, gathered outside in support of the defendant and have argued that former service personnel have been left exposed by prosecution decades after the events, while others have pointed to the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement that led to the release of many former paramilitary prisoners. Relatives of Bloody Sunday victims and of those killed in Ballymurphy have campaigned for accountability and have long sought prosecutions following the Saville findings.
Prosecution material filed at the start of the trial alleges the soldiers were "acting as a unit" and that they encouraged one another to fire at civilians who were attempting to flee. The defence case has not been outlined in court beyond the defendant's not-guilty pleas.
Legal teams and witnesses are expected to present evidence in the coming days and weeks. Prosecutors said the trial will concentrate on whether the defendant's actions amounted to criminal conduct under the law. The proceedings are scheduled to resume on Wednesday.
The trial marks a rare criminal prosecution arising from events during the Troubles and comes more than five decades after the bloodshed in Londonderry. It follows a prolonged and costly process of public and police inquiry that altered the official narrative of what took place on Jan. 30, 1972 and has continued to shape debate over accountability, reconciliation and the rule of law in Northern Ireland.