Soldier F pleads not guilty to Bloody Sunday murders
BBCA former British soldier has pleaded innocent to the murder of two men on Bloody Sunday more than half a century ago.
In June, lawyers for the former paratrooper known as Soldier F applied for the case against him was dismissed Before his trial.
Judge Mr Justice Fowler rejected the application at Belfast Crown Court on Friday.
Soldier F is charged with two murders and five attempted murders when members of the Parachute Regiment opened fire on civil rights protesters in Londonderry on 30 January 1972.
Thirteen people were shot dead and at least 15 others were wounded when soldiers opened fire in the Bogside.
Who is Soldier F?
- A former British soldier who served with the Army’s Parachute Regiment in Northern Ireland during the Troubles
- His name cannot be revealed due to an interim court order allowing his anonymity
- Soldier F being put on trial for the murders of William McKinney and James Ray on Bloody Sunday
- He is also accused of the attempted murder of Patrick O’Donnell, Joseph Friel, Joe Mahon, Michael Quinn and an unidentified man on the same date.
The decision whether or not to prosecute Soldier F involved several legal challenges and U-turns.
Prosecutors said 125,000 pages of material had been weighed in March 2019 That they would send Soldier F to trial for the murders of Mr. Ray and Mr. McKinney, as well as multiple attempted murders.
However, in 2021, prosecutors dropped the case Following the conclusion of the trial of two other Army veterans who had been accused of another Troubles-era murder.
At the time, the families of the Bloody Sunday victims said the decision was “a serious indictment of the British justice system” – their legal challenge against the decision was successful.
The court then rejected an attempt by the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) to send its appeal to the Supreme Court.
Prosecutors later announced that they had decided Resume prosecution in September 2022,
He was returned for trial in December 2023, a decision later challenged by his lawyers in June.
That hearing was the first time Soldier F appeared in court in person after being charged.
