Bloody Sunday: Soldier will not stand trial for murder

A former soldier charged with murdering James Wray (left) and William McKinney (right) who died on Bloody Sunday in January 1972 will not stand trial.

The prosecution of a former soldier accused of murdering two people on Bloody Sunday in Derry in 1972 is to be halted, it is understood.

The former soldier, known as ‘Soldier F’ was charged with murdering James Wray and William McKinney in Derry in January 1972. 

The former member of the British army’s Parachute Regiment was also accused of the attempted murders of Patrick O'Donnell, Joseph Friel, Joe Mahon and Michael Quinn. He also faced a seventh charge of the attempted murder of a person or persons unknown on that day.

He was the only person to be charged in connection with the killings of 13 civilians that day.

A solicitor representing the families described the decision as “another damning indictment of the British justice system."

The family of William McKinney, John (left) and Mickey, arrive at the City Hotel in Derry, for a meeting with the Public Prosecution Service. 

In a statement, Solicitor Ciarán Shiels said Northern Ireland's Public Prosecution Service (PPS) has been informed of the families' intention to seek an immediate judicial review of its decision to discontinue the prosecution.

Another former soldier charged with the murder of a teen boy in Derry in 1972 will also not stand trial.

Solicitor Des Doherty said the PPS informed the family of Daniel Hegarty it was discontinuing the prosecution at a meeting in a Derry hotel on Friday morning.

Daniel Hegarty was just 15 when he was shot twice in the head close to his home in the Creggan area of the city in July 1972 during a British army operation.

The discontinuation of the prosecution of Soldier B comes after the PPS reviewed the cases in light of a recent court ruling that caused the collapse of another Troubles murder trial involving two military veterans.

Soldiers A and C were acquitted of the murder of 24-year-old IRA leader Joe McCann earlier this year.

In May, the UK government announced plans to introduce a statute of limitations that would stop people being charged over incidents that occurred before the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement.