Bloody Sunday paras 'fired without stopping to aim'

Two paratroopers fired shots without aiming as they ran through Derry on Bloody Sunday, a soldier claimed today.

A Coldstream Guard told the Saville Inquiry in London he had a very good view of the nationalist Bogside area on January 30, 1972, the day 13 civil rights marchers were shot dead by soldiers.

A 14th person died later.

Soldier INQ 1351, who was granted anonymity, said he saw the paratroopers enter the Rossville Flats area from his position on an overlooking hill.

“I saw two paras each fire one shot apparently towards the Rossville Flats as they ran,” he told the inquiry.

“These soldiers were not firing from the hip but nor were they firing aimed shots. I cannot say exactly what they were firing at.”

Under questioning by Cathryn McGahey, counsel to the inquiry, the soldier added: “Both shot when they were running and they did not actually stop to aim or look down their sights, they just fired their weapons.”

Meanwhile, a paratrooper also told the inquiry today it was common practice for soldiers to tamper with ammunition at the time of Bloody Sunday.

Soldier INQ 471, who was a private in 1 Para C Company in 1972, said he was also aware of soldiers carrying private supplies of ammunition.

“I was aware there were soldiers who did this and I did it myself,” he said.

“There were always ways and means of getting it, mainly off the firing ranges.”

He said it was always possible to find empty bullet cases lying around the ranges and hand them in saying you had fired them.

“Ammunition that was issued was not doctored because if unused it would have to be returned, but ammunition that was acquired off the firing range could be, and often was, doctored,” he said.

“Nine millimetre bullets were made into dum-dums by filing the flat end so that they would make a bigger impact.

“I never modified rubber bullets but I knew that also happened quite often. A rubber bullet case is about six inches long and you could cut it down by half and put a U2 battery in the bottom to make it go further and hit harder.”

Many of the relatives of those killed and injured on Bloody Sunday have insisted their loved ones were struck with doctored bullets.

However, soldier INQ 471 said he had no specific knowledge of doctored bullets or private supplies of bullets being used on Bloody Sunday.

The two witnesses gave their testimony on day 312 of the Saville Inquiry at Methodist Central Hall in London.

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.

Colonel Derek Wilford, the commanding officer of the paratroopers in the city on Bloody Sunday, is due to return to the witness box tomorrow morning to give his second day of evidence.