Judge rules that ‘decisive’ statement evidence can be heard in Soldier F trial

Family members of those killed on Bloody Sunday arrive at Belfast Crown Court. Picture: Niall Carson/PA

A judge has ruled that key hearsay evidence in the trial of a former British paratrooper accused of two murders on Bloody Sunday can be admitted as evidence in his trial.

Judge Patrick Lynch, who is presiding over the non-jury trial at Belfast Crown Court, granted an application by the prosecution to admit a number of statements made by other British soldiers on the ground during the shootings in Derry on January 30, 1972.