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Sunday 30 January 1972 stands as among the most fatal – and momentous – days during three decades of conflict in Northern Ireland.

In the streets of the incident – the legacy of that fateful day are visible on the walls and embedded in people's minds.

A civil rights march was organized on a wintry, sunny period in Derry.

The protest was opposing the practice of imprisonment without charges – detaining individuals without legal proceedings – which had been implemented following three years of conflict.

Troops from the elite army unit shot dead multiple civilians in the neighborhood – which was, and remains, a overwhelmingly Irish nationalist area.

One image became particularly memorable.

Images showed a clergyman, Fr Edward Daly, waving a bloodied fabric in his effort to shield a assembly carrying a teenager, Jackie Duddy, who had been mortally injured.

Journalists captured much footage on the day.

Documented accounts includes Fr Daly informing a media representative that troops "just seemed to discharge weapons randomly" and he was "absolutely certain" that there was no justification for the shooting.

That version of what happened was disputed by the first inquiry.

The initial inquiry concluded the military had been fired upon initially.

During the negotiation period, Tony Blair's government established a fresh examination, after campaigning by bereaved relatives, who said the first investigation had been a inadequate investigation.

During 2010, the findings by Lord Saville said that overall, the paratroopers had initiated shooting and that not one of the casualties had presented danger.

At that time head of state, the leader, issued an apology in the House of Commons – saying killings were "unjustified and unjustifiable."

Authorities started to look into the events.

One former paratrooper, identified as the accused, was prosecuted for homicide.

He was charged regarding the killings of one victim, twenty-two, and in his mid-twenties the second individual.

Soldier F was additionally charged of attempting to murder Patrick O'Donnell, other civilians, more people, an additional individual, and an unnamed civilian.

Exists a court ruling preserving the soldier's anonymity, which his legal team have claimed is required because he is at danger.

He stated to the investigation that he had only fired at people who were possessing firearms.

The statement was disputed in the official findings.

Information from the inquiry was unable to be used immediately as testimony in the criminal process.

In court, the accused was shielded from sight behind a blue curtain.

He made statements for the first time in the hearing at a proceeding in late 2024, to reply "innocent" when the allegations were put to him.

Family members of the deceased on the incident travelled from Derry to the courthouse every day of the proceedings.

A family member, whose relative was killed, said they understood that hearing the trial would be emotional.

"I remember the events in my recollection," he said, as we walked around the primary sites referenced in the proceedings – from the street, where his brother was fatally wounded, to the nearby the area, where one victim and another victim were fatally wounded.

"It reminds me to my position that day.

"I helped to carry my brother and place him in the medical transport.

"I experienced again every moment during the proceedings.

"Notwithstanding enduring everything – it's still valuable for me."