How this Legal Case of an Army Veteran Over Bloody Sunday Concluded in Case Dismissal

Sunday 30 January 1972 stands as among the deadliest – and consequential – dates during thirty years of conflict in the region.

Throughout the area where events unfolded – the legacy of that fateful day are visible on the buildings and embedded in people's minds.

A protest demonstration was organized on a cold but bright day in Londonderry.

The demonstration was opposing the system of internment – holding suspects without legal proceedings – which had been established following multiple years of unrest.

Troops from the Parachute Regiment shot dead 13 people in the neighborhood – which was, and continues to be, a strongly Irish nationalist area.

A specific visual became notably prominent.

Photographs showed a clergyman, the priest, using a bloodied fabric while attempting to protect a assembly transporting a youth, the fatally wounded individual, who had been fatally wounded.

Media personnel recorded considerable film on the day.

The archive features Fr Daly informing a media representative that troops "gave the impression they would discharge weapons randomly" and he was "absolutely certain" that there was no provocation for the discharge of weapons.

That version of what happened wasn't accepted by the initial investigation.

The initial inquiry concluded the military had been shot at first.

In the negotiation period, the administration commissioned another inquiry, following pressure by bereaved relatives, who said the first investigation had been a whitewash.

In 2010, the conclusion by the inquiry said that overall, the soldiers had initiated shooting and that none of the victims had posed any threat.

The contemporary government leader, the leader, apologised in the Parliament – stating deaths were "improper and unacceptable."

The police began to investigate the incident.

A military veteran, identified as the accused, was prosecuted for killing.

He was charged regarding the fatalities of one victim, 22, and 26-year-old the second individual.

The accused was also accused of seeking to harm Patrick O'Donnell, additional persons, Joe Mahon, Michael Quinn, and an unknown person.

Remains a legal order maintaining the soldier's anonymity, which his lawyers have argued is required because he is at risk of attack.

He told the Saville Inquiry that he had only fired at individuals who were armed.

This assertion was rejected in the concluding document.

Material from the investigation could not be used directly as proof in the court case.

In the dock, the defendant was shielded from sight using a protective barrier.

He made statements for the opening instance in court at a proceeding in late 2024, to answer "not guilty" when the accusations were read.

Relatives of the deceased on the incident made the trip from Derry to the courthouse every day of the proceedings.

John Kelly, whose brother Michael was died, said they were aware that hearing the trial would be painful.

"I remember the events in my recollection," the relative said, as we examined the main locations discussed in the proceedings – from the street, where his brother was shot dead, to the adjoining the area, where the individual and the second person were killed.

"It returns me to my location that day.

"I helped to carry Michael and put him in the ambulance.

"I went through the entire event during the evidence.

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