Bloody Sunday: Soldier F anonymity order upheld in court

James Wray and William McKinney were among 13 people shot dead at a civil rights march

Soldier F, the Army veteran charged with murdering two men on Bloody Sunday, has been allowed to retain his anonymity.

On Monday a court heard that was because he would be a "prime target for anyone seeking vengeance for the terrible events of Bloody Sunday".

He is charged with the murders of James Wray and William McKinney in Londonderry on 30 January 1972.

The ex-paratrooper also faces five charges of attempted murder.

Mr Wray and Mr McKinney were among 13 people shot dead at a civil rights march in Derry's Bogside area almost 50 years ago.

Giving judgement on an application to review the former soldier's anonymity, the judge said Soldier F had anonymity at both the Widgery and Saville inquiries into Bloody Sunday and in respect of the criminal proceedings since September 2019.

Thirteen people were killed and 15 wounded on Bloody Sunday

He said threat assessments had been carried out in July 2019 and March 2021 and those found that Soldier F was at low risk from dissident republicans.

However, the judge said that threat level could rise if Soldier F was to be denied anonymity.

The judge accepted the evidence of Alan McQuillan, a former assistant chief constable of the Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI), who said that Soldier F "would have to look over his shoulder for the rest of his life".

The judge said that the former paratrooper faced a threat not only from dissident republicans but "from a lone actor, not a member of any organisation, but someone who might be prepared to carry out an attack".

He said a "real threat does exist" and Soldier F is right to "feel genuine fear".

The judge ordered that the anonymity order should be maintained but said it would be reviewed before any trial that should arise.

Thirteen people were killed and 15 wounded when members of the Army's Parachute Regiment opened fire on civil rights demonstrators in Derry on Sunday 30 January 1972.

The day became known as Bloody Sunday.

The Public Prosecution Service decided in March 2019 that Soldier F, as he was known at the Bloody Sunday public inquiry, would be the only ex-paratrooper to be charged.

Mickey McKinney, who is the brother one of the two people Soldier F is accused of murdering, said he was "very disappointed" with the anonymity decision.

"We are talking about open justice here," he told BBC Radio Foyle.

"Even when we focus just on the [threat] risk assessment, the assessment goes from low to extremely low," he said.