Soldier F trial: "A coward walks free from the dock"

The brother of a man shot and killed on Bloody Sunday has described Soldier F as a 'coward'.

Soldier F has been found not guilty of committing two murders and five attempted murders on Bloody Sunday in Derry in 1972.

Delivering his judgment at Belfast Crown Court, Judge Patrick Lynch said the evidence presented against the veteran fell well short of what was required for conviction.

Soldier F had been accused of the murders of James Wray and William McKinney on Bloody Sunday, regarded as one of the darkest days of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

The former paratrooper had also been accused of attempting to murder Michael Quinn, Patrick O’Donnell, Joseph Friel, Joe Mahon and an unknown person.

Following the judgment delivered at Belfast Crown Court this morning, Mickey McKinney, brother of William McKinney said:  “Today marks the end of the prosecution of Soldier F for the murder and attempted murder of  the innocents on Bloody Sunday.  

“The families and wounded and our supporters leave this courthouse with an incredible sense  of pride in our achievements. 

“Soldier F has been discharged from the defendant’s criminal dock, but it is one million miles away from being an honourable discharge. 

“Unlike his victims, there has been no declaration of Soldier F’s innocence. 

“Soldier F created two young widows on Bloody Sunday and he orphaned 12 children. And he deprived dozens of siblings of a loving brother. 

“The Bloody Sunday families do not lay the blame for today’s decision with the trial judge. 

“The blame lies firmly: 

• With the British state;  
• With the RUC who failed to investigate the murders on Bloody Sunday properly,  or indeed at all; and  
• With the British Army who shielded and enabled its soldiers to continue to murder  with impunity, and immunity, and also with the office of the then Director of  Public Prosecutions who, with a nod and a wink, complicitly signed off on  decisions not to prosecute in 1972 without even raising an eyebrow. 

“Most importantly however, responsibility lies with the thugs of Frank Kitson’s private army,  the 1st Battalion of the Parachute Regiment who opened fire, and those who directed and  protected them. 

“Despite the heroism, steadfastness and dignity of the Bloody Sunday Families and  Wounded, a coward walks free from the dock. 

“Not through the front door of this courthouse like every other vindicated, wrongly accused  defendant proudly does, but instead, once his curtain has been pulled back for him, creeping  out the back door.

“The type of thug, who is well used to special treatment, well used to having important and  powerful connections, with his police escort in tow, back over to hide in Palace Barracks,  where it all began. 

“Thank you.”