Belfast court clears Soldier F in Bloody Sunday case
Belfast Crown Court has acquitted a former Parachute Regiment soldier, known as “Soldier F”, of two murders and five attempted murders linked to Bloody Sunday. Presiding alone, Judge Patrick Lynch condemned soldiers who shot unarmed civilians, saying those responsible should “hang their heads in shame,” but he ruled the evidence against the accused fell short of the criminal test of proof beyond reasonable doubt. This summary of the verdict is drawn from Reuters and ITV reporting.
If you’re coming to this story fresh, here’s the timeline we use when teaching it. On 30 January 1972, soldiers fired on a civil‑rights march in the Bogside area of Derry, killing 13 people and injuring at least 15. Decades later, the Saville Inquiry concluded the shootings were unjustified, and in 2010 then‑Prime Minister David Cameron apologised in Parliament. These core facts are established in Associated Press coverage.
This trial asked a narrower question: could prosecutors prove that this specific defendant committed crimes beyond reasonable doubt? Soldier F was charged with the murders of James Wray, 22, and William McKinney, 26, and the attempted murders of Michael Quinn, Patrick O’Donnell, Joseph Friel, Joe Mahon and an unknown person. Across five weeks, the case was heard without a jury; the defendant’s identity remained protected and he sat screened from view. These details are from UTV/ITV News court reporting.
Why the acquittal? The judge said he could not be sure the accused fired with intent to kill or knowingly assisted others to do so. Much of the Crown case relied on historic statements from fellow soldiers who are now deceased or refused to testify; he found that such hearsay could not be treated as convincing or reliable for a criminal conviction, and underlined that courts do not deal in “collective guilt.” This reasoning is summarised by Reuters and AP.
Two former paratroopers, anonymised as Soldiers G and H, were central to the evidence. Their early Royal Military Police statements were admitted at trial, but because they could not be tested in cross‑examination-and had shifted over time-the judge gave them limited weight. UPI and Reuters both note the court’s criticism of the reliability of these accounts.
You may wonder why a case like this is heard by a judge alone. Non‑jury trials are still permitted in Northern Ireland where there is a risk that justice might be impaired by a jury trial. They require a certificate under the Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007 and were extended again in 2025, according to the Northern Ireland Office and official legislation notes.
The judgment also recorded what happened in Glenfada Park North: members of the Parachute Regiment fired at unarmed civilians at close range, a collapse of discipline that brought shame on the regiment. This mirrors the Saville Inquiry’s finding that the victims posed no threat. These points are set out in the Evening Standard and AP coverage.
Families who have campaigned for more than five decades told reporters they were hurt by the verdict but proud of their efforts. Mickey McKinney, whose brother William was killed, said their campaign exposed state failings even if a conviction was not reached. Reuters captured those reactions outside court.
Veterans’ groups, meanwhile, welcomed the ruling. Paul Young of the Northern Ireland Veterans’ Movement said soldiers would be “heartened” by the outcome, and the Veterans Commissioner, David Johnstone, pointed to the difficulty of trying cases built on decades‑old evidence. These responses were reported by the Derry Journal and the Evening Standard.
Political leaders split in their responses. First Minister Michelle O’Neill praised the families’ dignity and called the lack of accountability a continued denial of justice; DUP leader Gavin Robinson described the outcome as a “common sense judgement” while noting the painful, protracted process. These statements were reported locally by the Derry Journal.
What this means for you as a reader: an acquittal does not rewrite Bloody Sunday. The court judged one defendant against the highest criminal standard. The judge’s stinging criticism of the shootings sits alongside the Saville Inquiry’s findings that those killed were innocent. Both can be true at once. AP’s overview is a useful reference for this distinction.
If you are teaching this, anchor students on three dates-1972, 2010 and 2025-and compare standards of proof. Ask how time affects evidence, why non‑jury trials are sometimes used, and how different groups describe the same day. Encourage close reading of primary sources before drawing conclusions. This is where media literacy lives in practice.