A non-jury trial opened Monday at Belfast Crown Court for a former British paratrooper charged with the murders of two people and the attempted murders of five others during the Bloody Sunday shootings in Derry in 1972. The defendant, granted anonymity by court order and referred to in court documents as "Soldier F," pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Soldier F is accused of the murders of James Wray, 22, and William McKinney, 27. He also faces five counts of attempted murder relating to Patrick O'Donnell, Joseph Friel, Joe Mahon, Michael Quinn and an unnamed person. The shooting on Jan. 30, 1972, in the Bogside area of Londonderry resulted in the deaths of 13 civil rights demonstrators and injuries to about 15 others after soldiers from the Parachute Regiment opened fire.
The trial, expected to last several weeks, follows a long-running legal and investigative process that began after the public inquiry led by Lord Saville. That inquiry, which concluded in 2010, prompted a police investigation that reported 18 former soldiers to the Public Prosecution Service (PPS). The PPS first decided to charge Soldier F in 2019, but the prosecution was paused in 2021 after the collapse of a separate trial of two other former soldiers charged in relation to a 1972 murder in Belfast. The prosecution resumed in 2022 following a legal challenge.
Families of the victims and supporters traveled to Belfast by bus and planned a short procession to the court. Tony Doherty, chair of the Bloody Sunday Trust, described the day as "a tribute to the strength of the families, whose indefatigable campaign for justice has made this happen."
The central prosecution evidence includes contemporaneous statements given by other soldiers at the time of the shootings. The trial judge is expected to rule early on the admissibility of those statements, a legal issue that proponents say could be decisive in the case.
The anonymity order protecting the defendant means the court and media will continue to refer to him as Soldier F. Non-jury trials in Northern Ireland are occasionally used for cases deemed to carry a risk of jury intimidation or where the judge-alone format is considered necessary to ensure a fair hearing.
The Saville Inquiry concluded that the killings were unjustified and that those shot were unarmed, findings that led to a formal apology from the British government. Legal and investigative actions since the inquiry have been complex and contested, involving police reviews, prosecutions decisions by the PPS and judicial challenges.
Monday's proceedings mark a significant moment in efforts by relatives and campaigners to secure criminal accountability for the events of Bloody Sunday. The case will continue in Belfast Crown Court over the coming weeks, where fact-finding will focus on witness accounts, contemporaneous soldier statements and the legal questions surrounding their use as evidence.