Bloody Sunday trial hears further military witness accounts

Soldier F is accused of murdering James Wray (left) and William McKinney

Accounts given by two soldiers of shooting in Glenfada Park North in Londonderry on Bloody Sunday have been read out at the trial of Soldier F.

The Army veteran, whose anonymity is protected by a court order, denies murdering James Wray, 22, and William McKinney, 26, as well as five counts of attempted murder.

They were among 13 people who were shot dead by the Parachute Regiment at a civil rights demonstration in the Bogside area of Derry in January 1972.

On Wednesday, the court in Belfast heard statements made by Soldier H at the Saville Inquiry in 2000 and by Soldier E to Royal Military Police (RMP) within hours of Bloody Sunday.

Soldier H's accounts stated that he could "not remember" seeing Soldier F firing.

He claimed he had been in Glenfada Park along with three other soldiers – E, F and G – when a nail bomb had been thrown in their direction.

Soldier H, who has refused to appear at the trial, said he fired two shots at the youth who fell to the ground.

He said he had no memory of what Soldiers F and G were doing.

Soldier H said he did not see F or G "engage with any gunmen or bombers in the area".

"I can not remember seeing either of them firing in Glenfada Park North or anywhere in Bogside that day," he said.

A witness statement was also read to the court from Soldier E, also part of Soldier's F four-man unit.

In the statement given to the RMP, Solider E, who has since died, claimed the soldiers in Glenfada Park had been targeted with petrol and nail bombs.

He said he fired two shots at a man throwing a nail bomb, hitting him once in the chest.

The case is being heard by a judge sitting without a jury at Belfast Crown Court.

The former paratrooper, whose identity remains protected by a court order, has entered pleas of not guilty to all the charges.

The public inquiry into Bloody Sunday rejected claims soldiers had been attacked.

The trial continues.

Who is Soldier F?

Soldier F is a former British soldier who served with the Army's Parachute Regiment in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.

He cannot be named due to an interim court order granting his anonymity.

The decision to charge Soldier F was taken by the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) in 2019.

He was one of 18 former soldiers reported to the PPS as a result of a police investigation, which followed the public inquiry into Bloody Sunday conducted by Lord Saville.

But he was the only one charged.

Two years later, the PPS dropped the case after the collapse of the trial of two other veterans who had been accused of a 1972 murder in Belfast.

But the prosecution resumed in 2022 after a legal challenge.