🔗 Share this article

Sunday 30 January 1972 stands as one of the deadliest – and momentous – dates throughout thirty years of conflict in Northern Ireland.

In the streets where events unfolded – the images of Bloody Sunday are displayed on the walls and etched in public consciousness.

A protest demonstration was conducted on a wintry, sunny day in Derry.

The demonstration was challenging the practice of imprisonment without charges – imprisoning people without due process – which had been implemented in response to an extended period of violence.

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

A particular photograph became especially memorable.

Pictures showed a religious figure, Father Daly, displaying a stained with blood white handkerchief as he tried to defend a crowd transporting a young man, the fatally wounded individual, who had been mortally injured.

Journalists recorded much footage on the day.

Documented accounts includes Father Daly informing a journalist that military personnel "appeared to shoot indiscriminately" and he was "completely sure" that there was no reason for the shooting.

This account of the incident was rejected by the initial investigation.

The Widgery Tribunal found the military had been attacked first.

In the negotiation period, the ruling party commissioned another inquiry, after campaigning by surviving kin, who said the first investigation had been a cover-up.

That year, the conclusion by the inquiry said that on balance, the soldiers had discharged weapons initially and that zero among the individuals had posed any threat.

At that time government leader, the Prime Minister, expressed regret in the Parliament – stating fatalities were "without justification and unacceptable."

Authorities started to look into the matter.

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

He was charged concerning the killings of James Wray, twenty-two, and twenty-six-year-old another victim.

The defendant was additionally charged of trying to kill several people, additional persons, further individuals, Michael Quinn, and an unnamed civilian.

There is a judicial decision preserving the veteran's identity protection, which his lawyers have argued is required because he is at threat.

He stated to the investigation that he had solely shot at individuals who were possessing firearms.

The statement was dismissed in the concluding document.

Information from the inquiry could not be used straightforwardly as testimony in the court case.

In the dock, the accused was hidden from public behind a protective barrier.

He made statements for the opening instance in the hearing at a hearing in that month, to answer "innocent" when the charges were read.

Kin of the victims on that day journeyed from Londonderry to the courthouse daily of the proceedings.

One relative, whose sibling was killed, said they always knew that listening to the trial would be emotional.

"I remember everything in my mind's eye," he said, as we examined the key areas mentioned in the proceedings – from the location, where Michael was shot dead, to the adjoining the courtyard, where one victim and William McKinney were killed.

"It returns me to my location that day.

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

"I went through every moment during the testimony.

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