Overview

• An ex-paratrooper known as Soldier F is on trial at Belfast Crown Court charged with murdering James Wray and William McKinney and attempting to murder five others.
• Proceedings are non-jury and the defendant has court-ordered anonymity, sitting behind curtains that shield him from public view; he has pleaded not guilty.
• The prosecution alleges soldiers fired unlawfully at unarmed civilians as they ran, calling the shooting unnecessary and gratuitous and asserting an intent to kill or cause serious harm.
• The judge will consider this week whether Royal Military Police statements from other soldiers are admissible, with those accounts said to place the defendant at the scene.
• Three wounded survivors are expected to give evidence, victims’ families marched to court for the opening, and the case follows a PPS decision to resume prosecution after a successful legal challenge by relatives.