New murder charge ordeal for Bloody Sunday veterans

Nine ex-Paras told they were in clear just months ago

NINE Bloody Sunday veterans who escaped prosecution earlier in the year face a fresh probe.

The former paratroopers, in their late 60s and 70s, were told in March that they would not be charged over the deaths of 13 civil rights marchers in Londonderry on January 30 1972.

But lawyers acting on behalf of the families of those killed and wounded said at the time they would appeal against the decision. Last night it emerged they have since handed a 149-page dossier to the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) in Northern Ireland asking it to overturn its earlier decision. The PPS said it was reviewing the files. A spokesman told The Daily Telegraph: ‘The PPS is currently reviewing decisions not to prosecute a number of suspects reported by police in connection with the events on Bloody Sunday, as requested by a number of victims and families of deceased persons involved.

‘Detailed legal submissions were recently received and the PPS is now in a position to progress these reviews. It is not possible at this stage to give a time frame for this process to be concluded. We will continue to keep the families and victims informed.’ The announcement of the review will cause immense distress to veterans who have had the prospect of prosecution hanging over their heads for decades.

In March, one veteran – identified only as Soldier F – was charged over the mass shooting.

But solicitors for the families of marchers who were killed submitted a legal challenge, claiming a further nine soldiers should be charged and that a further three murder charges be brought against Soldier F, along with two additional attempted murder charges.

The soldiers all served in the Parachute Regiment.

Sergeant O, 77, who had previously faced a possible murder charge, said: ‘It is incredibly upsetting for soldiers who thought they had been cleared. There are going to be a lot of complaints about this.

‘We were told it was all done and we were in the clear and now we have to wait yet again. It is agonising.’

Just weeks ago Boris Johnson pledged to change the Human Rights Act to stop veterans who served during the Troubles from being investigated.

But the policy change, brought in if the Tories win the election, is unlikely to help protect those soldiers already facing charges. In 1998, then prime minister Tony Blair announced an inquiry into the killings. The ten-year Saville Inquiry concluded the troops killed peaceful protesters, ‘none of whom was posing a threat’.

After its findings in 2010, David Cameron apologised on behalf of the British Government and said the killings were unjustified.