'We leave this courtroom with an incredible sense of pride' - Brother of William McKinney
The brother of one of the two men Soldier F was acquitted of murdering at trial said they left the courtroom with an ‘incredible sense of pride in our achievements’ despite the not guilty verdict.
The former paratrooper was found not guilty of committing two murders and five attempted murders on Bloody Sunday in Derry in 1972. The verdict delivered in Belfast on Thursday came after a five week trial which commenced in mid-September.
Delivering his judgment at Belfast Crown Court, Judge Patrick Lynch said the evidence presented against the veteran fell well short of what was required for conviction.
Soldier F had been accused of the murders of James Wray and William McKinney on Bloody Sunday, regarded as one of the darkest days of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
He was also accused of attempting to murder Michael Quinn, Patrick O’Donnell, Joseph Friel, Joe Mahon and an unknown person.
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Thirteen people were killed when members of the Parachute Regiment opened fire on a civil rights demonstration in the city on January 13, 1972.
The non-jury trial heard evidence across four weeks before the judge retired to consider the evidence, which included statements by two of Soldier F’s colleagues, last week.
Following the judgment delivered at Belfast Crown Court, Mickey McKinney, brother of William McKinney said: “Today marks the end of the prosecution of Soldier F for the murder and attempted murder of the innocents on Bloody Sunday.
“The families and wounded and our supporters leave this courthouse with an incredible sense of pride in our achievements.”
Mr McKinney added that Bloody Sunday families do not lay the blame for today’s decision with the trial judge.
"The blame lies firmly with the British state; with the RUC who failed to investigate the murders on Bloody Sunday properly, or indeed at all; and with the British Army who shielded and enabled its soldiers to continue to murder with impunity, and immunity, and also with the office of the then Director of Public Prosecutions who," Mr McKinney added “signed off on decisions not to prosecute in 1972 without even raising an eyebrow”.
“Most importantly however,” he said, “responsibility lies with the thugs of Frank Kitson’s private army, the 1st Battalion of the Parachute Regiment who opened fire, and those who directed and protected them."