Bloody Sunday deaths 'unnecessary and gratuitous', court told

The killing of two men on Bloody Sunday was unnecessary and gratuitous, according to the trial of a former British soldier. Soldier F is accused of killing James Wray, 22, and William McKinney, 26, as well as five counts of attempted murder in 1972. The Parachute Regiment opened fire on civil rights protesters in Londonderry's Bogside district, killing thirteen people. About 15 others were wounded. Soldier F is barred from public view by a black curtain around a portion of the dock in Belfast Crown Court.

The former paratrooper, whose identity is not revealed by a court order, has entered a plea of not guilty. He also denies five counts of attempted murder. Soldier F is now accused of attempting to murder Patrick O'Donnell, Joseph Friel, Joe Mahon, Michael Quinn, and an unidentified individual. During the hearing, three of those he allegedly injured will testify.

'Unjustified'

The shootings were unjustified, according to prosecutor Louis Mably KC, and no of the victims posed any threat. They were unarmed and fired as they ran away.Mr Mably went on to say that the soldiers who fired, including Soldier F, then gave a misleading account of what had happened.

They did not do was to falsely state that the civilians they attacked were armed.

It was demonstrably false. Mr Mably argued that the court had had along-lasting and profound effect

on Northern Ireland on Sunday. According to him, the trial will have a narrow and specific focus on events that occurred in a courtyard in Derry's Bogside's Glenfada Park neighborhood. Soldier F was

part of a select group of soldiers who walked west from Rossville Street to the courtyard,he said.With their self-loading rifles firing at the civilians as they ran away,the group of soldiers opened fire, he said.The end was the casualties that I've described, two deaths and four men wounded, two women and four guys. The civilians in the courtyard were unarmed anddid not pose a danger to the troops,he said, andno one in the army should have guessed that they did. According to Mr Mably, the soldiers' statements would be subjected to a hearsay application on Wednesday that would determine their admissibility. He said that the hearing was the first substantive issue in the case. On Monday, families and friends of those killed on Bloody Sunday, as well as scores of supporters, took part in a walk to the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast, just days before the trial begins. Many at the front of the march carried a large banner that read: Towards Justice.This day is a tribute to the families''s resilience, and his indefatigable struggle for justice has made this happen,

Tony Doherty, chair of the Bloody Sunday Trust, said.

John McKinney, a lawyer for the McKineney family, said it was

a monumental day in our fight to get justice for our loved ones

before entering the court. Families had fought against the odds to get here, according to the narrator.

We will soon occupy the courtroom with our heads held high and with the understanding that we are on the right side of history,

he said.

Legacy process

Former soldiers were being subjected to complete demonization as a result of Northern Ireland's legacy process, according to Northern Ireland veterans commissioner David Johnstone. Johnstone called for a fair and balanced legacy process.

The overwhelming majority, and this is important, of the nearly 300,000 Armed Forces that served in Northern Ireland during Op Banner (Operation Banner), did so with a sense of pride, with patience, and with humour, striving to protect communities and avoid civil war here in this province,

he said.

The lives of soldiers killed by terrorists get no media coverage, and there is certainly no chance of a public inquiry into their deaths,

he said. TUV chief Jim Allister said he had stopped off on his way to London to show his love for veterans, even outside the courthouse. The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) made the decision to sue Soldier F in 2019. He was one of 18 former soldiers reported to the PPS as a result of a police probe that followed Lord Saville's public inquiry into Bloody Sunday. But he was the only one charged. The PPS dropped the lawsuit two years after the trial of two other veterans of a 1972 murder in Belfast ended. However, after a court challenge, the trial was revived in 2022. Other soldiers' accounts at the time of Bloody Sunday are the most relevant evidence in the Soldier F lawsuit. If the trial judge is admissible, it is likely that it will be determined at an early stage.