How the Trial of an Army Veteran Over the 1972 Londonderry Incident Ended in Case Dismissal

January 30th, 1972 remains one of the most deadly – and consequential – days throughout multiple decades of violence in the region.

Within the community where events unfolded – the legacy of that fateful day are visible on the walls and etched in public consciousness.

A civil rights march was held on a cold but bright afternoon in Derry.

The protest was challenging the system of internment – holding suspects without legal proceedings – which had been implemented after an extended period of unrest.

Troops from the Parachute Regiment killed thirteen individuals in the neighborhood – which was, and continues to be, a strongly republican area.

A particular photograph became notably iconic.

Pictures showed a Catholic priest, the priest, using a bloodied white handkerchief in his effort to defend a crowd moving a youth, the injured teenager, who had been mortally injured.

Journalists recorded considerable film on the day.

Documented accounts features the priest informing a reporter that troops "just seemed to shoot indiscriminately" and he was "absolutely certain" that there was no provocation for the gunfire.

That version of events was rejected by the original examination.

The initial inquiry concluded the soldiers had been fired upon initially.

Throughout the resolution efforts, the ruling party established a fresh examination, after campaigning by surviving kin, who said the first investigation had been a cover-up.

That year, the conclusion by the inquiry said that on balance, the military personnel had discharged weapons initially and that none of the individuals had been armed.

The then government leader, David Cameron, issued an apology in the House of Commons – saying deaths were "unjustified and unjustifiable."

The police began to look into the incident.

A military veteran, identified as the defendant, was prosecuted for killing.

Accusations were made concerning the deaths of James Wray, in his twenties, and twenty-six-year-old another victim.

The defendant was further implicated of seeking to harm multiple individuals, other civilians, further individuals, another person, and an unknown person.

There is a judicial decision maintaining the soldier's identity protection, which his attorneys have maintained is required because he is at risk of attack.

He testified the investigation that he had only fired at individuals who were carrying weapons.

This assertion was dismissed in the concluding document.

Material from the examination could not be used straightforwardly as testimony in the criminal process.

In court, the defendant was shielded from sight using a privacy screen.

He made statements for the first time in court at a session in December 2024, to reply "not responsible" when the allegations were read.

Kin of the victims on the incident journeyed from the city to Belfast Crown Court each day of the trial.

John Kelly, whose relative was fatally wounded, said they always knew that attending the proceedings would be emotional.

"I visualize the events in my mind's eye," the relative said, as we examined the main locations referenced in the proceedings – from the location, where Michael was killed, to the adjacent Glenfada Park, where James Wray and William McKinney were fatally wounded.

"It reminds me to my position that day.

"I participated in moving the victim and lay him in the ambulance.

"I relived the entire event during the evidence.

"Notwithstanding enduring everything – it's still meaningful for me."