Soldier F trial judge rejects bid to dismiss case

A judge has rejected a bid to have the case against Soldier F, who is accused of murdering two people on Bloody Sunday in Londonderry in January 1972, dismissed.

Soldier F, who denies all charges, is on trial at Belfast Crown Court for the murders of James Wray, 22, and William McKinney, 26.

They were among 13 people who were shot dead by the Parachute Regiment at a civil rights demonstration in the Bogside area of the city. He is further accused of five counts of attempted murder.

The army veteran's lawyers had made an application that Soldier F had no case to answer, arguing key witness evidence was unreliable and could potentially lead to an unsafe conviction.

However, Judge Patrick Lynch refused the application. The ruling means Soldier F's trial continues.

The ruling follows an application from Soldier F's lawyers to have the case dismissed over statements made at the time by Soldier G and Soldier H.

The prosecution said the statements of Soldier G, now deceased, and Soldier H, who has refused to testify, are crucial, but the defence has argued that they are "fundamentally flawed".

Judge Lynch said he had listened "very carefully" to two days of legal arguments on the defence application to dismiss.

He said he had reviewed his earlier decision that the statements of Soldier G and Soldier H were admissible in evidence and it stood.

"I decline to direct a verdict of not guilty on this basis," he said.

He then asked the defence to present its case.

Mark Mulholland KC, representing Soldier F, said his client would not be testifying.

The case is being heard by a judge sitting without a jury.

The trial continues.

Soldier F is a former British soldier who served with the Army's Parachute Regiment in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.

He cannot be named due to an interim court order granting his anonymity.

The decision to charge Soldier F was taken by the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) in 2019.

He was one of 18 former soldiers reported to the PPS as a result of a police investigation, which followed the public inquiry into Bloody Sunday conducted by Lord Saville.

But he was the only one charged.

Two years later, the PPS dropped the case after the collapse of the trial of two other veterans who had been accused of a 1972 murder in Belfast.

But the prosecution resumed in 2022 after a legal challenge.