The Way the Prosecution of a Former Soldier Over Bloody Sunday Ended in Acquittal

Sunday 30 January 1972 is remembered as one of the deadliest – and consequential – days during multiple decades of violence in this area.

In the streets where it happened – the images of that fateful day are painted on the walls and embedded in people's minds.

A protest demonstration was conducted on a chilly yet clear afternoon in Derry.

The march was challenging the system of detention without trial – imprisoning people without legal proceedings – which had been implemented following multiple years of conflict.

Soldiers from the elite army unit killed thirteen individuals in the district – which was, and continues to be, a strongly republican population.

A specific visual became especially prominent.

Pictures showed a Catholic priest, the priest, displaying a bloodied fabric as he tried to shield a assembly moving a teenager, the fatally wounded individual, who had been killed.

News camera operators recorded much footage on the day.

Historical records features Father Daly explaining to a media representative that troops "gave the impression they would shoot indiscriminately" and he was "totally convinced" that there was no reason for the gunfire.

That version of the incident was disputed by the first inquiry.

The first investigation found the military had been attacked first.

During the peace process, the administration set up a new investigation, after campaigning by surviving kin, who said the first investigation had been a whitewash.

In 2010, the report by the investigation said that on balance, the soldiers had discharged weapons initially and that not one of the victims had been armed.

The then government leader, the Prime Minister, expressed regret in the House of Commons – saying fatalities were "improper and unacceptable."

The police began to investigate the incident.

An ex-soldier, known as the accused, was charged for murder.

Accusations were made concerning the fatalities of one victim, twenty-two, and in his mid-twenties another victim.

The defendant was also accused of seeking to harm multiple individuals, additional persons, further individuals, Michael Quinn, and an unidentified individual.

Remains a court ruling preserving the veteran's anonymity, which his lawyers have maintained is necessary because he is at risk of attack.

He stated to the investigation that he had only fired at people who were possessing firearms.

This assertion was rejected in the concluding document.

Evidence from the examination could not be used straightforwardly as testimony in the court case.

During the trial, the defendant was hidden from public with a privacy screen.

He spoke for the first time in the hearing at a session in December 2024, to answer "not responsible" when the accusations were put to him.

Relatives of the deceased on Bloody Sunday made the trip from the city to the courthouse each day of the proceedings.

John Kelly, whose sibling was killed, said they were aware that hearing the proceedings would be emotional.

"I can see everything in my mind's eye," John said, as we visited the key areas mentioned in the case – from the street, where Michael was shot dead, to the adjacent the area, where James Wray and the second person were killed.

"It even takes me back to where I was that day.

"I helped to carry my brother and lay him in the ambulance.

"I experienced again every moment during the evidence.

"Despite having to go through all that – it's still meaningful for me."