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4h ago

Non-Jury Trial Opens for 'Soldier F' in Bloody Sunday Killings

The case proceeds after the Saville Inquiry found the victims posed no threat.

Families of the victims of the 1972 'Bloody Sunday' killings walk to the high court on the first day of the trial of the British army veteran known as 'Soldier F' charged with two murders and five attempted murders in relation to Bloody Sunday, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, September 15, 2025. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton
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Overview

  • The former paratrooper, identified only as Soldier F, faces two murder charges over the deaths of James Wray and William McKinney and five counts of attempted murder from the 1972 shootings in Derry’s Bogside.
  • Judge Patrick Lynch is presiding over the judge-alone hearing in Belfast Crown Court, where the defendant has court-ordered anonymity and is screened from view by a curtain.
  • Prosecutor Louis Mably opened by saying the Glenfada Park North gunfire was unnecessary and intended to kill, asserting soldiers later gave false accounts that civilians were armed.
  • A key evidential dispute over Royal Military Police statements from soldiers will be tested in court later this week, an issue that has derailed past legacy prosecutions.
  • Victims’ families marched to the courthouse after a five-decade campaign for accountability, while veterans’ representatives voiced concern over the broader legacy process.