🔗 Share this article

January 30th, 1972 is remembered as arguably the deadliest – and consequential – days in thirty years of conflict in this area.

In the streets where it happened – the images of the tragic events are painted on the buildings and embedded in people's minds.

A civil rights march was conducted on a cold but bright afternoon in Londonderry.

The demonstration was challenging the system of internment – detaining individuals without trial – which had been implemented following three years of conflict.

Troops from the Parachute Regiment killed 13 people in the Bogside area – which was, and remains, a predominantly nationalist community.

A specific visual became particularly iconic.

Pictures showed a religious figure, the priest, displaying a bloodied fabric as he tried to shield a group moving a teenager, the fatally wounded individual, who had been fatally wounded.

News camera operators captured considerable film on the day.

Documented accounts includes the priest explaining to a journalist that troops "appeared to discharge weapons randomly" and he was "absolutely certain" that there was no provocation for the gunfire.

The narrative of the incident was disputed by the first inquiry.

The Widgery Tribunal found the military had been fired upon initially.

During the negotiation period, Tony Blair's government set up another inquiry, in response to advocacy by surviving kin, who said the initial inquiry had been a whitewash.

In 2010, the report by the investigation said that generally, the military personnel had discharged weapons initially and that none of the individuals had presented danger.

The then Prime Minister, the leader, apologised in the House of Commons – declaring killings were "unjustified and inexcusable."

Law enforcement commenced investigate the incident.

One former paratrooper, known as the defendant, was charged for murder.

Accusations were made concerning the killings of one victim, twenty-two, and in his mid-twenties William McKinney.

The accused was also accused of trying to kill several people, Joseph Friel, more people, another person, and an unidentified individual.

There is a legal order maintaining the veteran's identity protection, which his legal team have maintained is required because he is at danger.

He testified the examination that he had only fired at persons who were possessing firearms.

This assertion was rejected in the concluding document.

Material from the examination could not be used straightforwardly as proof in the legal proceedings.

During the trial, the veteran was hidden from public using a protective barrier.

He made statements for the initial occasion in court at a hearing in December 2024, to answer "not guilty" when the charges were put to him.

Kin of the deceased on Bloody Sunday made the trip from Londonderry to the courthouse daily of the proceedings.

A family member, whose relative was fatally wounded, said they always knew that attending the trial would be painful.

"I can see the events in my recollection," the relative said, as we walked around the key areas mentioned in the proceedings – from Rossville Street, where the victim was shot dead, to the nearby the courtyard, where one victim and the second person were died.

"It reminds me to my location that day.

"I assisted with my brother and lay him in the vehicle.

"I relived the entire event during the evidence.

"Despite having to go through the process – it's still valuable for me."