A former British paratrooper, dubbed Soldier F, has appeared in Belfast Crown Court for the first time since being charged with the murders of two protesters and five attempted murders during the Bloody Sunday massacre in 1972.
Former Soldier Appears in Court for Bloody Sunday Murders
On January 30, 1972, thirteen unarmed civil rights protesters were shot dead by British soldiers in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, in an event known as Bloody Sunday. A former British paratrooper, referred to as Soldier F, appeared in Belfast Crown Court on Friday for the first time since being charged in 2019 with the murders of James Wray and William McKinney, as well as five attempted murders.
Soldier F’s identity has been protected by an interim court order granting anonymity, and a large curtain shielded him from public view during the proceedings. His legal team argued for the case’s dismissal, citing an “insufficiency of evidence” and pointing to contradictory and flawed contemporaneous statements from other soldiers involved in Bloody Sunday.
The court had previously ruled in December 2021 that the evidence was strong enough to proceed to trial. The prosecution had initially dropped the case in 2021, but the decision was overturned after a legal challenge by the victims’ families, leading to the resumption of the prosecution in September 2022. The trial date for Soldier F is yet to be determined.
