Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on September 24, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleKey evidence in the Bloody Sunday soldier trial is ruled admissible, impacting the prosecution's case in the historic 1972 incident.
BELFAST (Reuters) -The judge in the trial of the sole British soldier charged with murder over the 1972 "Bloody Sunday" killings of 13 unarmed Catholic civil rights marchers ruled on Wednesday that key military statements could be entered as evidence by prosecutors.
Judge Patrick Lynch said the hearsay statements that the prosecution case was "totally dependent upon" should be admitted, but that it would be inappropriate at this point to give reasons for his decision.
A lawyer for the families of the victims, Ciaran Sheils, said they were "very, very pleased", describing the evidence as "decisive".
The trial would continue next week, with the prosecution case expected to take between two and four weeks, Belfast Crown Court heard.
Prosecutors initially decided in 2021 not to go to trial over fears that the statements given by two other soldiers, who were with the soldier charged over the killings, could be ruled inadmissible because of how the evidence was obtained.
Northern Ireland's High Court quashed the decision to discontinue the murder case in 2022 after a legal challenge by the victims' families and lawyers for the prosecution began presenting their case last week.
The soldier, who cannot be identified and is known as Soldier F, is accused of murdering two men and attempting to murder five others when members of Britain's Parachute Regiment opened fire in the mainly Irish nationalist city of Londonderry.
Soldier F has pleaded not guilty to the seven charges.
Bloody Sunday remains the worst single shooting incident of three decades of violence involving mainly Catholic nationalists seeking a united Ireland, largely Protestant pro-British unionists wanting to remain part of the United Kingdom and British forces. A 1998 peace deal largely ended the bloodshed.
(Reporting by Amanda Ferguson; Writing by Padraic Halpin and Conor Humphries; Editing by Alex Richardson)
Judge Patrick Lynch ruled that hearsay statements crucial to the prosecution's case should be admitted, although he did not provide reasons for this decision at this time.
Soldier F is accused of murdering two men and attempting to murder five others during the Bloody Sunday incident when British soldiers opened fire on unarmed marchers.
Ciaran Sheils, a lawyer for the victims' families, expressed that they were 'very, very pleased' with the ruling, describing the evidence as 'decisive'.
Northern Ireland's High Court quashed the decision to discontinue the murder case in 2022, allowing the prosecution to present their case in court.
The prosecution case is expected to take between two and four weeks, as stated in Belfast Crown Court.
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