A former paratrooper has gone on trial accused of killing two men on Bloody Sunday more than 50 years ago.
The veteran, known only as Soldier F, is accused of the ‘unnecessary and gratuitous’ shooting of James Wray, 22, and William McKinney, 26, who were killed.
He is also accused of the attempted murders of Patrick O'Donnell, Joseph Friel, Joe Mahon, Michael Quinn and an unknown person during a protest in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, on January 30, 1972.
Shielded by a black screen to protect his anonymity, Soldier F sat in the dock at Belfast’s Laganside Courts on Monday morning as prosecutor Louis Mably KC said he and others ‘falsely claimed’ the civilians shot were armed to ‘justify the shooting.’
It is alleged Soldier F, who is said to be in poor health, and other soldiers followed men who were attempting to ‘escape’ violence which had broken out at a civil rights march.
