🔗 Share this article

Sunday 30 January 1972 is remembered as among the most fatal – and consequential – dates during three decades of violence in this area.

Within the community where events unfolded – the images of Bloody Sunday are visible on the structures and seared in public consciousness.

A civil rights march was organized on a chilly yet clear afternoon in Londonderry.

The protest was challenging the policy of imprisonment without charges – imprisoning people without due process – which had been implemented after an extended period of unrest.

Troops from the specialized division shot dead multiple civilians in the neighborhood – which was, and remains, a predominantly Irish nationalist community.

One image became especially prominent.

Images showed a clergyman, the priest, waving a bloodied white handkerchief as he tried to defend a crowd moving a youth, the fatally wounded individual, who had been fatally wounded.

Journalists recorded extensive video on the day.

Documented accounts features Father Daly telling a journalist that troops "appeared to fire in all directions" and he was "totally convinced" that there was no justification for the shooting.

That version of what happened wasn't accepted by the original examination.

The first investigation concluded the soldiers had been fired upon initially.

In the peace process, the administration commissioned another inquiry, following pressure by family members, who said the first investigation had been a inadequate investigation.

In 2010, the conclusion by Lord Saville said that generally, the soldiers had fired first and that none of the individuals had posed any threat.

The contemporary head of state, the leader, issued an apology in the Parliament – declaring fatalities were "improper and unjustifiable."

Law enforcement started to examine the incident.

One former paratrooper, referred to as the defendant, was prosecuted for murder.

Indictments were filed over the fatalities of the first individual, 22, and in his mid-twenties another victim.

The accused was additionally charged of trying to kill several people, additional persons, more people, an additional individual, and an unknown person.

Exists a judicial decision maintaining the defendant's privacy, which his lawyers have claimed is required because he is at threat.

He stated to the examination that he had solely shot at persons who were armed.

That claim was dismissed in the concluding document.

Material from the examination was unable to be used immediately as testimony in the legal proceedings.

In the dock, the veteran was shielded from sight behind a protective barrier.

He spoke for the initial occasion in court at a proceeding in December 2024, to respond "innocent" when the allegations were put to him.

Kin of the victims on Bloody Sunday journeyed from Londonderry to Belfast Crown Court each day of the trial.

John Kelly, whose relative was died, said they always knew that listening to the proceedings would be difficult.

"I visualize all details in my memory," he said, as we visited the key areas mentioned in the proceedings – from the location, where the victim was shot dead, to the nearby the courtyard, where the individual and the second person were died.

"It even takes me back to my position that day.

"I participated in moving my brother and lay him in the vehicle.

"I went through every moment during the proceedings.

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