The trial of a former paratrooper charged with two murders and five attempted murders on Bloody Sunday can admit hearsay evidence that has been described by the prosecution as “decisive”, a judge has ruled.
The judge, Patrick Lynch, on Wednesday granted a prosecution request to admit statements made by other soldiers who were present during the shootings in Derry on 30 January 1972. The statements include allegations that the accused veteran, known as Soldier F, fired into the courtyard where the two men he is accused of murdering were shot.
Prosecutors argued last week that the statements by two soldiers to the Royal Military Police on the night of the shootings, and to the Widgery tribunal later in 1972, were “decisive” and the only evidence “capable of proving” that Soldier F fired at civilians in Glenfada Park North.
Soldiers dispersing people with CS gas in Derry, 30 January 1972. Photograph: PA
The closely watched trial at Belfast crown court has come 53 years after the Parachute regiment fatally gunned down 13 civil rights protesters, a defining event of Northern Ireland’s Troubles.
The defendant, a former lance corporal, has pleaded not guilty to the murders of James Wray and William McKinney and the attempted murder of five others. Granted anonymity by a court order, a blue curtain has concealed him in the dock. Defence lawyers had argued against admitting the hearsay evidence, calling it contradictory, unreliable and inadmissible.
Mr Justice Lynch, who presides without a jury, told the court it would not be appropriate at this stage to give reasons for his decision to allow the evidence but he might do so later, if necessary.
“I am not only judge in relation to legal issues but also the tribunal of fact, with the ultimate responsibility of determining guilt or innocence based upon such facts as I decide have been proven to the criminal standard, that is beyond reasonable doubt,” he said.
Ciarán Shiels, centre, a solicior representing the relatives of those who died, said the families ‘look forward to the evidence starting to be called’. Photograph: Peter Morrison/AP
Speaking outside court, Ciarán Shiels, a solicitor who represents relatives of those who died, welcome the decision. “They welcome very much the judgment and they look forward to the evidence starting to be called,” he said.
Paul Young, of the Northern Ireland Veterans Movement, expressed dismay at the ruling. “The decision today will be met with great disappointment by the veterans who served in Northern Ireland.”
Soldiers shot 31 civilians on the day of the protest, killing 13. Another casualty who died four months later is widely considered a 14th victim.
The tribunal led by John Widgery in 1972 cleared the soldiers of wrongdoing but a 2010 inquiry by Mark Saville concluded that the killings were “unjustified and unjustifiable”. David Cameron’s Conservative government apologised for the killings.
The trial is to resume on Friday and is expected to last several weeks. In addition to military witness statements the evidence will include statements by other eyewitnesses, including people who were injured but survived Bloody Sunday.
