- Thread starter
- Staff
- #1
Dadparvar
Staff member
- Nov 11, 2016
- 10,597
- 0
- 6
A Northern Ireland court ruled Thursday that the sole British soldier facing charges in connection with the 1972 “Bloody Sunday” killings of Catholic protesters will be tried for murder. Ted Magill, a District Judge in Londonderry, decided that the case against the defendant “Soldier F” would proceed, as there was enough evidence to send him for trial.
Bloody Sunday was one of the most harrowing days during the period of the Northern Ireland Troubles, a period of conflict between mostly Catholic supporters of a united Ireland and mostly Protestant loyalists to the British crown. 13 people were killed at a civil rights demonstration in Londonderry on January 30, 1972, when British paratroopers opened fire on the crowd. 14 people were injured, and one later died although his death was officially recorded by a brain tumour. According to army evidence, the soldiers discharged 108 rounds. The shootings led to widespread outrage, and the British Embassy in Dublin was burned down.
Following the massacre, there was an inquiry that cleared the British authorities of any wrongdoing, which provoked further anger from victims’ families. The Saville Inquiry was then set up during Tony Blair’s premiership, finding that none of the victims were “posing any threat of causing death or serious injury” and “in no case was any warning given before soldiers opened fire.” Following the publication of the inquiry, the Police Service of Northern Ireland began murder investigations, which concluded in 2016. Despite originally charging Soldier F, the charges were dropped after another trial involving Troubles-related killings had failed and prosecutors felt that the evidence was insufficient. Various legal challenges followed, and in September 2022, Northern Ireland’s Public Prosecution Service announced that they would resume the prosecution.
The soldier faces prosecution for the murder of William McKinney and James Wray and the attempted murder of five other individuals. The hearing before Magill on Thursday was to decide whether the evidence against Soldier F was strong enough for the case to proceed to the Crown Court, where Soldier F would stand trial. Earlier in the year, Magill had allowed hearsay statements from five former paratroopers to be admitted into evidence. This provided evidence that Soldier F allegedly fired a weapon at the scene of the murders.
Head of the Bloody Sunday Trust, Tony Doherty, the son of one of the victims, Patrick Doherty, said:
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.
Bloody Sunday was one of the most harrowing days during the period of the Northern Ireland Troubles, a period of conflict between mostly Catholic supporters of a united Ireland and mostly Protestant loyalists to the British crown. 13 people were killed at a civil rights demonstration in Londonderry on January 30, 1972, when British paratroopers opened fire on the crowd. 14 people were injured, and one later died although his death was officially recorded by a brain tumour. According to army evidence, the soldiers discharged 108 rounds. The shootings led to widespread outrage, and the British Embassy in Dublin was burned down.
Following the massacre, there was an inquiry that cleared the British authorities of any wrongdoing, which provoked further anger from victims’ families. The Saville Inquiry was then set up during Tony Blair’s premiership, finding that none of the victims were “posing any threat of causing death or serious injury” and “in no case was any warning given before soldiers opened fire.” Following the publication of the inquiry, the Police Service of Northern Ireland began murder investigations, which concluded in 2016. Despite originally charging Soldier F, the charges were dropped after another trial involving Troubles-related killings had failed and prosecutors felt that the evidence was insufficient. Various legal challenges followed, and in September 2022, Northern Ireland’s Public Prosecution Service announced that they would resume the prosecution.
The soldier faces prosecution for the murder of William McKinney and James Wray and the attempted murder of five other individuals. The hearing before Magill on Thursday was to decide whether the evidence against Soldier F was strong enough for the case to proceed to the Crown Court, where Soldier F would stand trial. Earlier in the year, Magill had allowed hearsay statements from five former paratroopers to be admitted into evidence. This provided evidence that Soldier F allegedly fired a weapon at the scene of the murders.
Head of the Bloody Sunday Trust, Tony Doherty, the son of one of the victims, Patrick Doherty, said:
The post UK soldier charged over Bloody Sunday killings to be tried for murder appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.