Ford 'not responsible' for Bloody Sunday operation

The most senior British army officer in the North on Bloody Sunday has told the Saville Inquiry that he was not responsible for sending the Parachute Regiment into Derry's Bogside that day.

General Robert Ford said he had approved the use of paratroopers as a reserve force, but decisions on how they would be deployed were up to Brigadier Patrick McClellan.

General Ford said he was in Derry at the time of the Bloody Sunday arrest operation as an observer only and played no part in ordering the Parachute Regiment into the IRA-controlled Bogside.

General Ford also defended the Parachute Regiment in his evidence to the Saville Inquiry, describing it as aggressive, but controlled and disciplined.

Many people have said the paratroopers, who had a reputation for brutality, were unsuited to operation like that which eventually became known as Bloody Sunday.

General Ford also said today that the British army had no plans to confront the IRA on January 30, 1972, and he described as nonsense an Irish Government suggestion that the Bloody Sunday operation was intended to make an example of the Bogside community and show them who was in charge.