The Way this Trial of a Former Soldier Over the 1972 Londonderry Incident Concluded in Not Guilty Verdict

January 30th, 1972 remains among the most deadly – and momentous – dates in multiple decades of conflict in this area.

Within the community of the incident – the images of that fateful day are displayed on the structures and etched in collective memory.

A public gathering was held on a wintry, sunny day in Londonderry.

The demonstration was a protest against the system of internment – detaining individuals without due process – which had been implemented following an extended period of unrest.

Troops from the elite army unit killed thirteen individuals in the district – which was, and remains, a overwhelmingly nationalist population.

One image became especially prominent.

Images showed a Catholic priest, Father Daly, displaying a bloodied cloth while attempting to shield a group transporting a teenager, the fatally wounded individual, who had been fatally wounded.

News camera operators documented extensive video on the day.

Documented accounts features Father Daly informing a journalist that troops "just seemed to shoot indiscriminately" and he was "totally convinced" that there was no justification for the discharge of weapons.

That version of what happened was disputed by the first inquiry.

The Widgery Tribunal found the Army had been attacked first.

In the resolution efforts, the administration set up a new investigation, after campaigning by surviving kin, who said Widgery had been a cover-up.

In 2010, the report by the inquiry said that on balance, the military personnel had discharged weapons initially and that none of the casualties had posed any threat.

At that time head of state, the leader, issued an apology in the House of Commons – saying killings were "without justification and unacceptable."

Authorities began to examine the matter.

A military veteran, known as Soldier F, was charged for killing.

Indictments were filed regarding the deaths of one victim, 22, and in his mid-twenties the second individual.

Soldier F was also accused of trying to kill several people, other civilians, Joe Mahon, Michael Quinn, and an unnamed civilian.

Exists a legal order preserving the defendant's privacy, which his attorneys have claimed is essential because he is at danger.

He told the examination that he had exclusively discharged his weapon at persons who were armed.

That claim was dismissed in the concluding document.

Material from the examination was unable to be used immediately as proof in the criminal process.

During the trial, the defendant was screened from view with a protective barrier.

He made statements for the initial occasion in the proceedings at a session in December 2024, to answer "not responsible" when the allegations were put to him.

Family members of the deceased on Bloody Sunday made the trip from Derry to the courthouse every day of the trial.

A family member, whose relative was fatally wounded, said they always knew that attending the proceedings would be difficult.

"I can see everything in my mind's eye," the relative said, as we examined the main locations mentioned in the case – from the street, where the victim was fatally wounded, 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 helped to carry Michael and lay him in the ambulance.

"I relived every moment during the evidence.

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