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January 30th, 1972 is remembered as among the deadliest – and consequential – days in multiple decades of conflict in the region.

In the streets where events unfolded – the images of that fateful day are visible on the buildings and embedded in collective memory.

A civil rights march was organized on a cold but bright period in Londonderry.

The demonstration was a protest against the system of internment – detaining individuals without due process – which had been established in response to an extended period of violence.

Soldiers from the Parachute Regiment fatally wounded 13 people in the neighborhood – which was, and continues to be, a overwhelmingly republican population.

A specific visual became notably prominent.

Pictures showed a Catholic priest, Father Daly, using a bloodied fabric while attempting to defend a crowd carrying a teenager, Jackie Duddy, who had been fatally wounded.

Media personnel recorded extensive video on the day.

Documented accounts contains the priest telling a media representative that soldiers "just seemed to shoot indiscriminately" and he was "totally convinced" that there was no provocation for the gunfire.

That version of the incident wasn't accepted by the initial investigation.

The initial inquiry found the Army had been fired upon initially.

During the negotiation period, the ruling party set up a fresh examination, following pressure by surviving kin, who said Widgery had been a cover-up.

That year, the report by the investigation said that overall, the soldiers had fired first and that zero among the individuals had presented danger.

The then Prime Minister, the Prime Minister, apologised in the House of Commons – declaring killings were "without justification and unacceptable."

The police commenced examine the events.

A military veteran, identified as the accused, was prosecuted for murder.

He was charged regarding the fatalities of the first individual, in his twenties, and twenty-six-year-old the second individual.

The defendant was additionally charged of trying to kill Patrick O'Donnell, other civilians, further individuals, another person, and an unnamed civilian.

There is a judicial decision maintaining the soldier's privacy, which his attorneys have claimed is necessary because he is at danger.

He testified the examination that he had exclusively discharged his weapon at persons who were carrying weapons.

The statement was dismissed in the official findings.

Material from the examination could not be used straightforwardly as testimony in the court case.

In court, the defendant was hidden from public using a protective barrier.

He addressed the court for the opening instance in court at a hearing in late 2024, to respond "not guilty" when the charges were put to him.

Relatives of the deceased on that day journeyed from Derry to the courthouse each day of the proceedings.

One relative, whose brother Michael was fatally wounded, said they understood that attending the case would be painful.

"I remember everything in my recollection," the relative said, as we walked around the key areas discussed in the trial – from the location, where the victim was fatally wounded, to the adjoining the area, where the individual and William McKinney were fatally wounded.

"It returns me to where I was that day.

"I helped to carry the victim and put him in the medical transport.

"I went through every moment during the evidence.

"Notwithstanding having to go through everything – it's still valuable for me."