FILE PHOTO: A fresh graffiti “No Peace” is seen on a wall at the Derry corner in Londonderry, Northern Ireland March 14, 2019. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne
July 2, 2021
DUBLIN (Reuters) – The only British soldier charged with murder in relation to the “Bloody Sunday” killings of 13 unarmed Catholic civil rights marchers in Londonderry by British paratroopers in 1972 will not face trial, lawyers for families of the victims said on Friday.
Soldiers from the elite Parachute Regiment opened fire on an unauthorised march in an Irish nationalist area in one of the most notorious incidents of Northern Ireland “Troubles”. They killed 13 people and wounded 14 others, one of whom died later.
The unnamed soldier was charged in 2019 with the murders of two men and attempted murders of five others. Lawyers for the families said prosecutors informed them of their decision to drop the case on Friday.
(Reporting by Ian Graham writing by Padraic Halpin in Dublin; Editing by Jon Boyle)