How this Prosecution of an Army Veteran Over the 1972 Londonderry Incident Concluded in Not Guilty Verdict

January 30th, 1972 stands as among the deadliest – and momentous – days in three decades of conflict in Northern Ireland.

In the streets where it happened – the memories of that fateful day are displayed on the walls and embedded in public consciousness.

A public gathering was conducted on a wintry, sunny afternoon in Derry.

The demonstration was challenging the policy of detention without trial – detaining individuals without legal proceedings – which had been established in response to multiple years of unrest.

Soldiers from the elite army unit shot dead thirteen individuals in the neighborhood – which was, and remains, a overwhelmingly Irish nationalist community.

One image became particularly prominent.

Photographs showed a clergyman, Fr Edward Daly, waving a blood-stained cloth as he tried to shield a crowd moving a young man, Jackie Duddy, who had been killed.

News camera operators recorded much footage on the day.

The archive contains Father Daly informing a reporter that military personnel "appeared to shoot indiscriminately" and he was "completely sure" that there was no reason for the gunfire.

This account of what happened was disputed by the first inquiry.

The first investigation concluded the soldiers had been attacked first.

Throughout the resolution efforts, the ruling party established another inquiry, following pressure by family members, who said the first investigation had been a cover-up.

That year, the conclusion by the investigation said that on balance, the soldiers had discharged weapons initially and that zero among the individuals had been armed.

The contemporary government leader, David Cameron, expressed regret in the Parliament – saying deaths were "unjustified and unjustifiable."

Authorities started to investigate the matter.

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

He was charged over the fatalities of the first individual, twenty-two, and twenty-six-year-old the second individual.

The accused was also accused of attempting to murder several people, other civilians, more people, Michael Quinn, and an unnamed civilian.

There is a legal order protecting the soldier's anonymity, which his attorneys have argued is necessary because he is at threat.

He stated to the examination that he had exclusively discharged his weapon at individuals who were carrying weapons.

The statement was dismissed in the official findings.

Evidence from the inquiry could not be used straightforwardly as evidence in the legal proceedings.

In the dock, the accused was screened from view behind a protective barrier.

He addressed the court for the opening instance in the proceedings at a session in December 2024, to respond "not guilty" when the allegations were read.

Relatives of those who were killed on that day made the trip from Derry to Belfast Crown Court every day of the trial.

One relative, whose sibling was killed, said they understood that listening to the trial would be difficult.

"I remember all details in my recollection," the relative said, as we walked around the main locations referenced in the case – from Rossville Street, where the victim was fatally wounded, to the adjacent the courtyard, where James Wray and William McKinney were died.

"It even takes me back to where I was that day.

"I helped to carry the victim and put him in the medical transport.

"I experienced again the entire event during the proceedings.

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