Paratroopers’ reason for entering killing zone ‘unclear’

CONTRADICTIONS in military evidence could lead the Bloody Sunday Tribunal to conclude there was no clear reason to enter one of the main killing grounds, it was claimed yesterday.

Counsel to the Saville inquiry Christopher Clarke QC made the assertion while discussing the activities of paratroopers in the Glenfada Park/Abbey Park area of Derry, where four civilians were killed and another five wounded.

Mr Clarke, speaking on the second day of his closing submission, pointed out the discrepancies in testimony of the members of the Anti-Tank Platoon.

One soldier said they moved from Kells Walk into Glenfada Park North to cut off a group of rioters, while another said he saw two men, one who appeared to be carrying a rifle, move into the area. A third claimed he ordered the deployment in order to arrest a man who had fired a low-velocity weapon from the car park at Glenfada Park.

Mr Clarke said the tribunal might decide that all of these activities were taking place at the time the paratroopers decided to move in. The barrister added: “alternatively, the tribunal might conclude that the difficulties, or if they feel them so to be, the contradictions, within the Anti-Tank Platoon’s evidence demonstrate that there was no clear reason to enter Glenfada Park North and that various members of the platoon had fashioned their evidence to provide a retrospective justification of their movements.” He said the tribunal was faced with the acute difficulty of establishing the facts, given the wide discrepancy between civilian and military witnesses

Lord Saville and his fellow judges will now retire to write their final report.