Overview
- The ex-paratrooper, tried under anonymity, had faced two murder counts for James Wray and William McKinney and five attempted murders.
- Judge Patrick Lynch said the court was bound by the evidence presented and found it neither convincing nor manifestly reliable.
- Key testimony came from former soldiers identified as G and H, whom the judge deemed unreliable, with one deceased and the other refusing to testify.
- The verdict concluded a five-week hearing at Belfast Crown Court, the sole criminal prosecution brought over the 1972 shootings.
- Families of victims and Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill condemned the outcome as a continued denial of justice, citing the 2010 inquiry that found the victims were unarmed.