Soldiers to be screened at Saville Inquiry

The Bloody Sunday Tribunal in Derry has granted two British soldiers the right to be screened from public view when giving evidence to the inquiry later this year.

Lord Saville, the tribunal chairman, cited the European Convention on Human Rights when granting the privilege to so-called Soldiers B and J.

All British soldiers due to testify before the Bloody Sunday Tribunal when it moves to London in September have been granted anonymity.

However, today’s decision means the two soldiers in question will not be seen by the public, the media or the families of those killed and injured by the British army on January 30, 1972.

Meanwhile, in evidence today, a man who was aged 20 on Bloody Sunday said a soldier in a low-flying helicopter pointed a gun at him during the British army raid on the Bogside area which led to the deaths of 13 unarmed civilians.

Jim O’Donnell, who now lives in Canada, said three shots were fired at him by soldiers on the ground in the Bogside.

He then dived for cover before seeing a British army helicopter appear above him. "A helicopter was hovering quite low overhead," he said in a statement to the tribunal. "I noticed that there was another soldier in the helicopter looking down at me and pointing his rifle at me."

A lawyer for some of the soldiers involved in the Bloody Sunday operation questioned Mr O’Donnell’s evidence. He said there were two military helicopters deployed in Derry on Bloody Sunday and neither had descended lower than 500ft for safety reasons.

He also said that none of the soldiers on board the helicopters was carrying a rifle. Mr O’Donnell insisted that the helicopter had descended to as low as twice the height of the Derry Guildhall, where the inquiry is being held.

He also insisted that he had seen somebody looking down at him from the helicopter, but conceded that "there may not have been a weapon".