A former British army paratrooper, known only as Soldier F, will go on trial on Monday at Belfast Crown Court, charged with two counts of murder and five of attempted murder in connection with the Bloody Sunday shootings in Derry in 1972.
The defendant, who has pleaded not guilty, is accused of killing James Wray and William McKinney and attempting to murder five others during a military operation by the Parachute Regiment that left 13 civil rights protesters dead. The event remains a defining moment of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
The trial, presided over by Mr Justice Fowler without a jury, follows decades of campaigning by victims' families. A 1972 tribunal cleared the soldiers, but a 2010 inquiry by Lord Saville deemed the killings “unjustified and unjustifiable”, prompting a government apology.
Soldier F was granted anonymity due to security concerns, with a blue curtain shielding him in court. His legal team argued insufficient evidence, but the judge ruled there was a case to answer, citing evidence that soldiers in Glenfada Park unlawfully fired high-velocity rifles at unarmed civilians.
The case is being closely watched by families, veterans' groups, and the Irish and British governments, which are discussing repealing the Legacy Act that aimed to limit prosecutions for Troubles-era crimes.
