How the Prosecution of an Army Veteran Over the 1972 Londonderry Incident Concluded in Case Dismissal

January 30th, 1972 remains among the most deadly – and significant – dates in thirty years of conflict in this area.

Throughout the area where events unfolded – the images of Bloody Sunday are painted on the walls and seared in public consciousness.

A public gathering was conducted on a chilly yet clear afternoon in the city.

The march was opposing the system of imprisonment without charges – holding suspects without trial – which had been implemented after multiple years of unrest.

Military personnel from the Parachute Regiment killed multiple civilians in the Bogside area – which was, and remains, a overwhelmingly Irish nationalist population.

One image became particularly memorable.

Photographs showed a religious figure, Fr Edward Daly, displaying a stained with blood white handkerchief while attempting to shield a group carrying a youth, the fatally wounded individual, who had been fatally wounded.

Journalists documented extensive video on the day.

The archive contains Father Daly telling a journalist that soldiers "just seemed to discharge weapons randomly" and he was "completely sure" that there was no provocation for the gunfire.

That version of what happened was rejected by the first inquiry.

The first investigation concluded the Army had been fired upon initially.

Throughout the negotiation period, Tony Blair's government commissioned a new investigation, after campaigning by surviving kin, who said Widgery had been a whitewash.

In 2010, the findings by the inquiry said that generally, the soldiers had fired first and that zero among the victims had been armed.

The then Prime Minister, the leader, apologised in the government chamber – saying killings were "unjustified and unjustifiable."

Law enforcement commenced look into the events.

One former paratrooper, referred to as the defendant, was prosecuted for homicide.

Accusations were made regarding the fatalities of James Wray, in his twenties, and in his mid-twenties William McKinney.

Soldier F was additionally charged of trying to kill multiple individuals, Joseph Friel, further individuals, another person, and an unknown person.

Remains a legal order preserving the veteran's privacy, which his attorneys have argued is essential because he is at threat.

He testified the Saville Inquiry that he had exclusively discharged his weapon at persons who were armed.

This assertion was disputed in the concluding document.

Evidence from the investigation was unable to be used directly as proof in the criminal process.

In the dock, the veteran was hidden from public with a privacy screen.

He made statements for the opening instance in the hearing at a session in that month, to answer "not responsible" when the accusations were read.

Kin of those who were killed on Bloody Sunday travelled from Londonderry to the courthouse daily of the proceedings.

John Kelly, whose sibling was died, said they understood that hearing the proceedings would be difficult.

"I can see the events in my mind's eye," the relative said, as we walked around the main locations discussed in the case – from the street, where the victim was killed, to the nearby the courtyard, where James Wray and William McKinney were died.

"It even takes me back to my position that day.

"I helped to carry my brother and put him in the medical transport.

"I experienced again the entire event during the evidence.

"Despite enduring all that – it's still valuable for me."