No more British soldiers will face prosecution over the Bloody Sunday killings almost 50 years ago
NO more British soldiers will face prosecutions over the Bloody Sunday killings almost 50 years ago.
Prosecutors said they will take no further action against 15 British paratroopers in connection with the deaths of 13 civil rights marchers in 1972.
No more British soldiers will face prosecutions over the Bloody Sunday killings almost 50 years ago[/caption] Prosecutors said they will take no further action against 15 British paratroopers in connection with the deaths of 13 civil rights marchers in 1972[/caption] Bloody Sunday is remembered as one of the darkest and bloodiest events of The Troubles in Northern Ireland[/caption]The decision not to prosecute follows a year-long review.
Soldier F, the only soldier to face charges, will continue to face trial.
But 15 former paratroopers who were re-investigated last year will not be prosecuted, the Public Prosecution Service of Northern Ireland said.
The Public Prosecution Service of Northern Ireland added: “The test for prosecution is not met on evidential grounds”.
The troops had already been told that they faced no further action but the case was reopened in November after lawyers acting for the relatives of those killed produced a 149-page dossier and demanded that prosecutors overturn the earlier decision.
Senior Assistant Director Marianne O’Kane said: “I have concluded that the available evidence is insufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction of any of the 15 soldiers who were the subjects of the reviews. Accordingly, the decisions not to prosecute these 15 individuals all stand.
“I know that today’s outcome will cause further upset to those who have pursued a long and determined journey for justice over almost five decades.
“I can only offer reassurance to all of the families and victims of Bloody Sunday, and the wider community, that my decisions were conducted wholly independently and impartially, and in accordance with the Code for Prosecutors.
“Finally, it is important to note that while Soldier F is among the 15 individuals to which these new decisions relate, the prosecution that commenced against him in 2019, which relates to two charges of murder and five charges of attempted murder, continues.”
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Soldier F is accused of murdering two protesters.
The families’ lawyers had alleged that a further nine former soldiers, who also retain anonymity, should be charged.
They also wanted three further charges of murder and two of attempted murder be brought against Soldier F, who is now in his 70s.
Soldiers take cover behind their sandbagged armoured cars while dispersing rioters with CS gas in Londonderry[/caption] British troops arrest civilians on Rossville St, Londonderry during a civil rights march[/caption]