Bloody Sunday families owed 'immediate apology' over prosecution threat

The Bloody Sunday Trust has welcomed the decision not to pursue the prosecution against members of the Bloody Sunday families and their supporters who walked quietly to Derry Courthouse last August.

The organisation described the prosecution as being based on what it  believed to be a "spurious and mischievous complaint" which "should never have been initiated in the first place".

PSNI owes families 'sincere and public  apology' over potential prosecutions

'Attempted prosecution of the Bloody Sunday victims initiated by the convicted  criminal Jamie Bryson'

Responding to the decision Tony Doherty, chair of the Bloody Sunday Trust, said: “This is clearly the right decision, after what was equally clearly a wrong decision to launch this misguided prosecution in the first place.

"Those family members who were threatened with prosecution have been made to go through over five months of worry for nothing, and those responsible for this should issue an immediate apology.

“We believe that the motivation behind the complaint made was purely to distract from the case against Soldier F, who is quite rightly facing very serious charges.

"The laws on marching in the north were designed to address very serious issues in our society, not to be abused to address personal whims or for publicity stunts, and steps must be taken to ensure something like this does not happen again.”