Bloody Sunday soldier may have hit wrong man

A former soldier who claimed he shot a nail-bomber on Bloody Sunday told the Saville Inquiry today it was possible he missed his intended target and shot the wrong man.

However, Soldier B, who testified from behind a screen to protect his identity, said he could not remember clearly the events of January 30, 1972.

The former paratrooper told day 311 of the inquiry at Methodist Central Hall in London he underwent brain surgery in 1986 and this may have affected his memory.

Soldier B, along with a corporal, Soldier A, were believed to have been responsible for the gunfire which injured Damian Donaghey, 16, and John Johnston, 59, in the city’s William Street on the day 13 civil rights marchers were shot dead in Derry.

Mr Donaghey recovered from his injuries but Mr Johnston died five months later.

However, the former soldier said today he could not remember aiming at anyone matching the description of the two men.

Under questioning from senior counsel for the inquiry, Cathryn McGahey, Soldier B admitted he may have missed his intended target, an alleged nail-bomber, due to the conditions on the day.

Ms McGahey asked: “If your current recollection is right, that your eyes were probably watering, that you had aimed and fired within a couple of seconds and that your respirator was getting in the way, would you accept it is possible that you hit the wrong man?”

Soldier B replied: “I suppose that is a possibility.”

However, he added that that possibility had not occurred to him over the last 31 years because he could not visualise what had happened on Bloody Sunday.

He also said it was possible he did hit Damian Donaghey, but he just could not remember.

When later asked by Ms McGahey if he was sure he hit the man at which he was aiming, Soldier B said: “I wish I could remember it, but I cannot say specifically that I did hit the man I was aiming at.”

In his statement to military police taken just hours after the shootings, Soldier B said he saw a man take a dark object from behind his back with his right hand.

He said the man then held a flame in his left hand and he looked down at both hands before he brought them together.

The soldier said he then took aim at the man’s chest with his rifle and fired a round from less than 50 yards away.

“I saw no effect from this round and then fired two further rounds,” he said.

“I saw the man lifted and then fall to the ground. I didn’t see what happened to whatever he had in his hand. Two men came forward and took the man I had fired at away. Another soldier fired at the same time as I did.”

Soldier B said today both the statement he gave to military police investigating the shootings and his testimony to the Widgery Tribunal, which took place shortly after Bloody Sunday, were true.

Richard Harvey, who represents a number of families including those of Damian Donaghey and John Johnston, asked Soldier B if he shot an elderly man or a 16-year-old youth resembling his clients’ descriptions.

“The two people who were shot and injured that day you neither shot them intending to shoot them, nor were you even aware that they were shot?,” asked Mr Harvey.

Soldier B replied: “No, that is true.”

Soldier A told the inquiry earlier that he shot a nail-bomber during the same incident when Soldier B opened fire, however, he too admitted he may have missed his intended target.

The inquiry, which usually sits at the Guildhall in Derry, is currently hearing evidence from military witnesses and others in London because of concerns for their safety.

Lord Saville of Newdigate and the Commonwealth judges accompanying him on the Bloody Sunday inquiry began their work nearly four years ago and have heard from 688 witnesses so far.

They are not expected to report back until late 2004.

The inquiry was established in 1998 by Prime Minister Tony Blair after a campaign by families of those killed and injured.

They felt that the Widgery Inquiry, held shortly after the shootings, did not find out the truth about what happened on Bloody Sunday.