Bloody Sunday: Heath rejects claims

The former British Prime Minister, Sir Edward Heath, has rejected suggestions he knew unarmed people could be killed on Bloody Sunday in Derry.

Giving evidence to the Saville Inquiry in London, Sir Edward denied that he was prepared for the deaths of innocent people.

Michael Mansfield QC, for the Nash and McGuigan families, put it to Sir Edward that he must have known that there was a risk that unarmed civilians would be shot but that casualties had to be accepted in the war against the IRA.

Sir Edward said he understood what Mr Mansfield was suggesting but that he rejected it.

Earlier, the inquiry heard that Major General Sir Robert Ford had decreed that the civil rights march, which he said was illegal and intended reaching the city centre, should be stopped "at all costs".

Asked to comment on the order, the man who wrote it down, Major General Ford's former secretary, described the wording as "a bit strong" due to his exuberance as a young officer.