The only former British soldier ever charged in relation to Bloody Sunday was found not guilty of murder and attempted murder.
A decades-long pursuit of accountability for one of the most brutal days of the Northern Ireland Troubles culminated in a verdict that has deeply divided the region.
The ruling, delivered in Belfast Crown Court on Thursday, was met with raw emotional disappointment by the victims’ families, who have been denied justice in the landmark case.
The explosive outcome of the trial against the former paratrooper, identified only as ‘Soldier F,’ underscores the profound difficulties in prosecuting historical cases from the conflict and reignites the highly sensitive debate over legacy issues.
Headline Points
• Acquittal on All Counts: Soldier F was acquitted of all seven charges: the murders of James Wray and William McKinney, and the attempted murder of five other people on January 30, 1972.
• Failure to Meet Burden of Proof: Judge Patrick Lynch stated that while paratroopers on the day had “lost all sense of military discipline” and shot unarmed civilians, the prosecution’s evidence “fell well short” of the required standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
• Impact of Time: The judge noted that the passage of time—nearly 54 years—had “seriously hampered” the ability to test the veracity and reliability of the decades-old witness and military statements central to the case.
• Polarised Reaction: Outside the court, victims’ relatives condemned the British state for what they called a failure to investigate and a cover-up, while supporters of Soldier F hailed the verdict as the end of a “witch-hunt” against military veterans.
The Verdict and Its Fallout
The former soldier, whose identity has been protected by a court order, listened to the judgment from behind a thick blue curtain in the courtroom.
Judge Lynch, while ultimately acquitting Soldier F, was unsparing in his assessment of the actions of the Parachute Regiment on that day in Derry, stating that the soldiers involved in shooting unarmed civilians should “hang their heads in shame.”
Despite this condemnation, the judge concluded that the evidence presented—largely relying on statements from other soldiers given in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy—was insufficient to definitively prove that it was Soldier F who fired the fatal shots.
The immediate reaction was starkly divided. Mickey McKinney, brother of victim William McKinney, spoke outside the court, asserting that the families held the British state responsible.
“Soldier F has been discharged from the defendant’s criminal dock, but it is one million miles away from being an honourable discharge,” he said, vowing to continue the fight for truth and justice.
Northern Ireland’s First Minister, Michelle O’Neill of Sinn Féin, called the verdict “deeply disappointing,” stressing the continued denial of justice for the families.
Conversely, veterans’ groups welcomed the outcome, arguing that the attempt to prosecute soldiers decades after events with unreliable evidence was fundamentally flawed.
The acquittal has focused new attention on the UK government’s contentious legislation intended to deal with the legacy of the Troubles, which aims to halt most legal proceedings in favour of an independent commission.
For the families of the Bloody Sunday victims, the not guilty verdict—the conclusion of the first and likely last murder trial related to the event—has only amplified the sense that legal justice remains unattainable.
