A former British paratrooper known only as "Soldier F" has gone on trial in Belfast charged with two counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder for shootings during the Bloody Sunday events in Londonderry on January 30, 1972, the court heard Monday.
Prosecutors allege Soldier F fired at unarmed civilians as they ran from soldiers during a civil rights march, killing James Wray, 22, and William McKinney, 26, and wounding others. Louis Mably KC, prosecuting, told Laganside Courts that Soldier F and other soldiers falsely claimed the civilians were armed to justify the shooting and that the force used was "unnecessary and gratuitous."
The trial is being held without a jury under specialist proceedings introduced in Northern Ireland to guard against jury tampering. Soldier F, who sat in the dock behind a black screen to protect his anonymity, denies the charges. The decision to charge him was taken by Northern Ireland's Public Prosecution Service in 2019; he was one of 18 former soldiers initially identified following the Saville Inquiry but the only person prosecuted.
Three of the four men the prosecution says Soldier F attempted to kill are alive and are expected to give evidence, Mably said, adding that after more than five decades they were "ready to give evidence before the court and give their accounts of Bloody Sunday."
Families of the victims attended a large demonstration outside the court before the hearing. John McKinney, brother of William McKinney, told the crowd the hearing marked a "momentous day" in their pursuit of justice and said the families had fought for more than half a century to reach this point. He said the relatives would "occupy a courtroom very proudly" and expressed confidence that they were "on the right side of history."
Thirteen civil rights protesters were killed by soldiers on Bloody Sunday, an event that became one of the most infamous episodes of the Troubles. The killings were investigated by the Saville Inquiry, set up in 1998 and concluded in 2010, which found the victims were innocent. Then-prime minister David Cameron apologised on behalf of the British government after the inquiry concluded that the killings were "unjustified and unjustifiable." The Saville Inquiry was the longest and most expensive public inquiry in British legal history.
The trial is expected to examine evidence compiled during the inquiry and subsequent investigations. Prosecutors say the victims posed no threat and that the soldiers could not have reasonably believed they did. Defence submissions at the opening of the trial indicated Soldier F is in poor health; the court will hear testimony from surviving eye-witnesses and former soldiers.
In a separate high-profile development in British media and entertainment, television personality Thomas Skinner apologised on social media and acknowledged a past affair as he prepares to appear on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing.
Skinner, a former contestant on The Apprentice and a prominent social media figure, said in a statement that a "moment of madness" more than three years ago led to a fling with a woman who has since spoken publicly about the relationship. Skinner said he told his wife at the time, that his partner forgave him and that the couple have since rebuilt their family life, which includes three young children.
He wrote that he had made "big mistakes" and warned that digging into his past could uncover other errors, adding, "I've made mistakes and if you dig you'll find more." Skinner said he and his wife had moved on and that he was determined to keep working and to be a better man for his family.
The revelation has provoked intense public scrutiny. Skinner has apologised to a journalist after an incident in which he grabbed a reporter's phone during an interview; he said he had seen messages on the device that related to his personal history and that the sight of them had triggered him. The BBC said it would stand by Skinner and that he would remain in the forthcoming Strictly series.
Skinner's statement said most of what has been said about him was untrue, and he asked the public to leave his wife and children alone. He also said he had received abusive messages and threats online. The former reality show contestant is scheduled to begin Strictly training in advance of the programme's launch.
The two stories illustrate distinct strains of public life in the United Kingdom: the long-running quest for accountability and legal reckoning for state actions during the Troubles, and the rapid, often unforgiving scrutiny of personal conduct in contemporary celebrity culture. The Soldier F trial is likely to attract sustained attention from families of the victims, legal observers and the public as it revisits a watershed event in Northern Ireland's history, while the developments around Skinner underscore the media dynamics faced by public figures.
Court proceedings in the Soldier F case will continue in Belfast, where witnesses are expected to give evidence about the events of January 30, 1972. Skinner is due to appear on Strictly Come Dancing later this month, with the BBC maintaining his participation for now.
