🔗 Share this article

Sunday 30 January 1972 remains one of the most deadly – and momentous – occasions during multiple decades of violence in this area.

In the streets of the incident – the legacy of Bloody Sunday are painted on the buildings and embedded in people's minds.

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

The protest was challenging the system of imprisonment without charges – imprisoning people without legal proceedings – which had been established in response to an extended period of unrest.

Troops from the Parachute Regiment killed thirteen individuals in the district – which was, and still is, a strongly Irish nationalist area.

A specific visual became notably prominent.

Photographs showed a Catholic priest, the priest, using a bloodied white handkerchief as he tried to defend a crowd moving a teenager, Jackie Duddy, who had been mortally injured.

Journalists documented considerable film on the day.

The archive contains the priest telling a reporter that military personnel "just seemed to shoot indiscriminately" and he was "absolutely certain" that there was no provocation for the gunfire.

This account of the incident wasn't accepted by the original examination.

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

During the negotiation period, the administration commissioned a new investigation, after campaigning by surviving kin, who said Widgery had been a whitewash.

That year, the report by the investigation said that generally, the military personnel had discharged weapons initially and that not one of the casualties had posed any threat.

At that time Prime Minister, the leader, issued an apology in the House of Commons – saying fatalities were "improper and inexcusable."

The police began to look into the events.

An ex-soldier, referred to as the accused, was charged for killing.

Indictments were filed regarding the deaths of the first individual, 22, and 26-year-old William McKinney.

The accused was additionally charged of attempting to murder multiple individuals, other civilians, more people, another person, and an unnamed civilian.

There is a court ruling maintaining the soldier's privacy, which his lawyers have maintained is essential because he is at threat.

He testified the Saville Inquiry that he had exclusively discharged his weapon at people who were armed.

That claim was rejected in the concluding document.

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

During the trial, the accused was hidden from public using a privacy screen.

He addressed the court for the first time in the proceedings at a hearing in late 2024, to respond "not responsible" when the accusations were put to him.

Family members of the victims on Bloody Sunday travelled from the city to Belfast Crown Court daily of the case.

A family member, whose sibling was died, said they were aware that attending the trial would be emotional.

"I visualize all details in my memory," John said, as we examined the main locations mentioned in the proceedings – from the location, where Michael was fatally wounded, to the nearby the area, where the individual and another victim were killed.

"It returns me to my position that day.

"I participated in moving my brother and put him in the ambulance.

"I relived each detail during the proceedings.

"Despite experiencing everything – it's still meaningful for me."