Killings were murder, says former soldier

A former British soldier who witnessed Bloody Sunday as a civilian claimed today the killings were ‘‘premeditated murder’’.

Eric Irvine, who had recently left the Army having served as a private in the Royal Fusiliers on January 30 1972, told the new inquiry probing the shootings: ‘‘I was totally ashamed at what the Army had done that day and I didn’t mention to anyone again that I had served in the Army.’’