Pre-trial rulings due in Bloody Sunday prosecution of Soldier F

By David Young (PA)

A former soldier accused of two murders on Bloody Sunday is due to hear later whether he has been successful in getting the case thrown out.

Ex-paratrooper Soldier F, who cannot be identified, is accused of murdering James Wray and William McKinney when members of the Parachute Regiment shot dead 13 civil rights protesters on the streets of Londonderry in January 1972.

He is also charged with five attempted murders.

In June, Soldier F’s defence team made an application for the case to be dismissed ahead of a trial, arguing there was an “insufficiency of evidence” against him.

In response, the prosecution insisted Soldier F was part of a group of paratroopers that entered a courtyard in the Bogside area of Derry and opened fire on “unarmed civilians” running away from them, with each soldier firing with an intention to kill.

Judge Mr Justice Fowler also heard an application for anonymity and screening provisions applied to Solider F to be extended, with his defence team claiming he would be a “prized target” for dissident republicans if his identity was made public.

The veteran attended the pre-trial hearings at Belfast Crown Court in person – the first occasion he was present in court since the prosecution against him was taken.

He sat in the witness box, with a thick floor-to-ceiling blue curtain shielding him from the main body of the court to protect his anonymity.

Justice Fowler is due to deliver rulings in the no bill application and on the anonymity issue later on Friday morning.

File photo dated 30/1/1972 of soldiers take cover behind their sandbagged armoured cars while dispersing rioters with CS gas in Londonderry, where an illegal civil rights march culminated in a clash between troops and demonstators, which resulted in 13 men being shot dead