🔗 Share this article

January 30th, 1972 stands as one of the deadliest – and consequential – days in three decades of conflict in this area.

Throughout the area where events unfolded – the legacy of Bloody Sunday are displayed on the structures and etched in collective memory.

A civil rights march was organized on a wintry, sunny period in Londonderry.

The protest was opposing the policy of imprisonment without charges – imprisoning people without due process – which had been put in place following an extended period of conflict.

Military personnel from the elite army unit fatally wounded 13 people in the neighborhood – which was, and remains, a overwhelmingly republican population.

A particular photograph became especially memorable.

Images showed a clergyman, Father Daly, using a bloodied white handkerchief while attempting to shield a crowd transporting a young man, the injured teenager, who had been killed.

Media personnel captured extensive video on the day.

Documented accounts includes Father Daly informing a media representative that military personnel "just seemed to discharge weapons randomly" and he was "totally convinced" that there was no provocation for the shooting.

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

The Widgery Tribunal found the soldiers had been attacked first.

In the negotiation period, the administration established another inquiry, following pressure by surviving kin, who said the initial inquiry had been a whitewash.

In 2010, the report by Lord Saville said that overall, the military personnel had fired first and that not one of the victims had been armed.

At that time government leader, David Cameron, apologised in the government chamber – saying fatalities were "unjustified and unacceptable."

Authorities started to investigate the events.

A military veteran, referred to as the accused, was charged for killing.

He was charged over the deaths of the first individual, in his twenties, and in his mid-twenties the second individual.

The defendant was further implicated of seeking to harm Patrick O'Donnell, additional persons, further individuals, another person, and an unidentified individual.

Exists a court ruling preserving the veteran's privacy, which his legal team have maintained is required because he is at risk of attack.

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

The statement was rejected in the concluding document.

Information from the examination was unable to be used directly as testimony in the court case.

In court, the veteran was shielded from sight with a protective barrier.

He made statements for the first time in the hearing at a session in late 2024, to answer "not responsible" when the accusations were presented.

Relatives of the victims on that day made the trip from the city to the judicial building each day of the case.

John Kelly, whose relative was fatally wounded, said they understood that attending the trial would be painful.

"I can see the events in my mind's eye," he said, as we examined the main locations mentioned in the proceedings – from the location, where the victim was killed, to the adjacent the courtyard, where James Wray and another victim were killed.

"It reminds me to my position that day.

"I participated in moving Michael and lay him in the medical transport.

"I experienced again every moment during the testimony.

"Notwithstanding experiencing the process – it's still valuable for me."