BLOODY SUNDAY INQUIRY WEEK 5

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15 - 18 MAY 2000

Counsel for the Inquiry, Christopher Clarke QC, continued with the evidence relating to events in sector two. The Paras entered the Bogside at 4:10pm and a cease fire was called at 4:35pm. In those 25 minutes, all the deaths and injuries occurred. The critical timescale, when the majority of the shootings took place is much smaller, probably seven to ten minutes.

Soldier 164 was based at an observation post on the Grande Parade. He heard a burst of six to eight rounds from an automatic weapon at about 4:00pm. He then heard general shooting for the next 30 minutes, from the general direction of the Rossville flats.

He said that his position was fired on at 4:38pm from the general direction of Meenan Square. One high velocity round struck the wall twenty feet behind him. At 4:42pm an observation post twenty yards to the left of him had two high velocity shots fired at them. Again the shots were from the direction of Meenan Square. The soldiers in that observation post returned two rounds.

Soldier 1351 was based at a factory on Bligh's lane overlooking the Bogside. He saw the Paras running in to the Bogside. He saw two Paras each fire one shot apparently towards the Rossville flats as they ran. 'These soldiers were not firing from the hip but nor were they firing aimed shots. I cannot say exactly what they were firing at.'

A gunner in 53rd battery of 22nd Light Air Defence Regiment was in an observation post on the wall at the canon Roaring Meg. At about 4:15pm, two shots were fired at his location and he heard them strike the city wall below his position. He presumed the shots came from the derelict houses in Saint Columb's Wells because of previous experiences.

At 4:25pm he heard a burst of machine-gun fire coming from the direction of the Rossville flats. At 4:34 his OP was fired on. Two shots were fired, from the direction of Saint Columb's Wells. He said that a military sniper situated in the attic of a derelict building about 50 metres to his left returned three shots in that direction.

In his evidence to Lord Widgery, Colonel Wilford said he heard high velocity shots at barrier 12 which he took to be non-Army fire as the sound was coming towards him. He heard two or three more shots and ran to Kells Walk. He saw one soldier fire who then told him that there was a gunman behind the rubble at the side of the Rossville flats. He told the soldiers to spread themselves out.

He then went to the north of block 1 of the flats. Some soldiers told him there had been shooting from the flats. He was told by the company commander that there were two bodies behind the barricade. He was informed that the soldiers had been fired at from the Rossville flats, acid bombs were being thrown and that there was a radio message from one of the platoons which said that they thought there were three more bodies in the area of Glenfada.

He next went over to C Company in Chamberlain Street who were doing the major part of the arrest work. C Company were controlling the arrested persons being brought from the Chamberlain Street car-park and from Rossville Street.

Colonel Wilford returned to the junction of William Street and Chamberlain Street where he met General Ford. By this stage he knew there were two, possibly three bodies behind the Rossville Street barricade and there were possibly three other bodies over towards Glenfada. He said that he told General Ford about the casualties, 'I said I thought at that stage there was possibly five, dead or wounded, of the enemy.'

7.14.1 Orders to fire at identified targets only

Video footage was shown of this stage. Commands of 'cease firing' and 'do not fire back for the moment unless you identify a positive target' can be heard.

Both Major Loden and Colonel Wilford believe that it is their voice that can be heard calling out those instructions. Major Loden said he gave these instructions at 4:35pm. Whereas Colonel Wilford said he gave this order after the 4:45pm message noted in the Para log. (see below para 7.14.3)

7.14.2 Evidence of Brian Cashinella

Brian Cashinella of the Times said that he spoke to Colonel Wilford at this stage. He said that Colonel Wilford had told him that two snipers had been killed in front of the rubble in Rossville flats and that two of his soldiers had been injured by an acid bomb, one seriously. It was after he was told this that he heard Colonel Wilford instruct the troops only to fire single aimed shots at identifiable gunmen or petrol or nailbombers.

7.14.3 The entry in the Para Log

The entry in the Para log at 4:45pm that came from Support Company said
'Sniper flats, Kells Walk, no casualties.'
During the Widgery Inquiry, Colonel Wilford said that he recalled receiving that message. He interpreted the message as 'you are still under sniper fire from Kells Walk' whereas the message appears to be that someone at Kells Walk is reporting a sniper at the flats.

He said that he could tell Support Company were under fire because of the way they were moving. A soldier under fire will try to make his body as small as possible as he runs for cover.

7.16.1 Max Hastings

Max Hastings was at barrier 14 and heard two or three single shots and what he thinks was a short burst of automatic firing.

7.16.2 David Phillips

David Phillips watched the Paras go through barrier 14 and said that he heard a long deep burst of automatic firing, which he believed to be from a Thompson machine gun. He then heard single rifle shots and believed the firing was coming from block 3 of the Rossville flats. General Ford was standing next to him and told him that there were 70 gunmen in the area.

He rejoined his camera crew at the corner of Rossville Street and William Street when the heavy firing had finished. He saw either Damien Donaghy or John Johnston being placed into Father Carolan's white volkswagon. He moved towards the Rossville flats and heard a very loud single shot above his head. A priest came towards him waving a white handkerchief (the evidence suggests that this was Father Mulvey walking up Rossville Street). He heard another very loud shot overhead, which was answered immediately by two shots from soldiers crouching at the front of an APC by the flats.

7.16.3 The ITN Crews

There were two ITN crews in Derry. Gerald Seymour, Peter Wilkinson and Robert Hammond were based behind barrier 14. Martin Lewis, Frank Watson and David Roy filmed the march.

Gerald Seymour, the reporter, heard single shots and a burst of automatic fire when he reached the junction of William Street and Rossville Street. He could see a soldier firing from the APC, which was in line with Eden Place. Network International, the audio experts instructed by the BSI have analysed the ITN film footage of this soldier. They are of the opinion that the shots which can be heard are probably not from this soldier. However they said that the poor quality of the material made it impossible for them to draw more positive conclusions.

Mr Seymour was conducting an interview with Father Mulvey at 4:30pm at the northern end of block 1 of the Rossville flats. Two shots rang out, followed by three more shots which clipped the masonry above their heads. At that point he was 6 or 8 feet away from soldiers.

Peter Wilkinson, the cameraman, said that he could hear a Thompson machine gun. He saw a soldier, level with Eden Place, firing into the wasteground. He heard two high velocity shots which he believed were coming from Free Derry corner.

Robert Hammond, the sound-recordist, gives similar evidence. During evidence to Lord Widgery he said that he recalled an army vehicle carrying a Browning machine gun. The gun was pointing towards Glenfada Park and he thinks he saw it fire two or three rounds at about two-storey height into Glenfada Park. He said that he saw an APC carrying a dead or wounded man as he could see a pair of legs in the back of the APC. A little earlier he had walked past a soldier who was crouching and looking towards the Rossville flats. The soldier said something to the effect of 'that will teach them to mess about with the Paras.'

The evidence from the Army is that the Browning was not used on this occasion. Mr Clarke said that there is no evidence of damage at two-storey height in Glenfada Park, consistent with that building having been fired at by a Browning machine gun.

Jack Duddy, a 17-year old boy was killed in the Rossville flats car-park. He was hit by a single bullet in the right shoulder, which travelled through him exiting through the left front of his chest. He had injuries to his face, knees and hands, which were caused when he collapsed.

Michael Bradley had gun shot wounds to the right and left forearms and chest. The experts have not been able to decide whether his injuries were caused by more than one bullet.

Michael Bridge was shot in the left thigh, the bullet passed through his thigh.

Margaret Deery had a gun shot wound on the front of her left thigh. The bullet travelled through her thigh.

Patrick McDaid had a gun shot wound along the back of his left shoulder. The wound was a glancing wound that is consistent with Mr McDaid's account of ducking down when he was shot.

Alana Burke was hit by APC no 2, injuring the right side of her back and leg.

There is also some evidence that Patrick Doherty was shot in the Rossville flats car-park. Mr Doherty died to the south of the flats.

The evidence suggests that Jack Duddy was the first to be shot in this sector followed by Margaret Deery, then either Michael Bridge or Michael Bradley and lastly Patrick McDaid. Michael Bridge and Michael Bradley could have been shot at the same time in consequence of their reaction to Jack Duddy's death. There is some evidence that Margaret Deery may have been shot before Jack Duddy.

Evidence from the Army was that 108 live rounds were fired on Bloody Sunday all by Support Company. No shots were fired by A or C companies.

The ammunition store man said that he was asked to replace 108 rounds of 7.62 millimetre bullets on 2nd February 1972. An ammunitions register was available for inspection at the Widgery Inquiry but has not survived.

Of the 108 shots, all were accounted for by lettered soldiers during the Widgery Inquiry. On the evidence given to that Inquiry, the Mortar Platoon fired 42 shots (plus one unspent round ejected by Lieutenant N).

7.19.1 The soldiers' account of the rounds they fired

The charts below give a breakdown of what each soldier said he fired in the sector two areas.

In the wasteground/courtyard of the Rossville flats

Down Rossville Street/at the barricade

This breakdown might help discover which of the soldiers killed Jack Duddy and wounded the others. This is on the assumption that the number of live rounds fired was 108, that the accounts given by the soldiers are correct and that the dead and wounded were not shot by non-Army fire. In the case of all the deceased, the entry wounds are consistent with a 7.62 millimetre bullet (which is standard army issue).

There are a number of reasons why the figure of 108 rounds could be inaccurate. Soldiers may have had their own personal supplies. They may have under-declared the number of shots they had fired and the deficit in their holding of bullets might never have been discovered. They might have over-declared the number of shots they fired, in order to build up their own private supply.

In a documentary called 'A Tour of Duty,' Soldier 023 said he fired a shot on Bloody Sunday. His bullets are not in the 108 that were recorded and he did not appear at the Widgery Inquiry.

7.19.2 Discrepancy between the numbers of casualties and soldiers' 'hits'

The soldiers claim to have hit seven people in this sector yet there are only five identified casualties. There are three possible explanations why the soldiers' accounts could be correct:

· The missing casualties were treated in a place other than hospital
· The missing casualties were taken to Letterkenny hospital in Donegal (although the BSI has investigated this and no-one was treated for gun-shot wounds at that hospital on that day)
· The missing casualties were hit, killed and buried elsewhere

7.19.3 Discrepancies between the casualties and the soldier's accounts of their targets

· None of the soldiers speak of firing at a boy who was running into the car park (Jack Duddy)
· None of the soldiers speak of a man advancing towards them, inviting them to shoot him (Michael Bridge)
· None of the soldiers speak of shooting a woman (Margaret Deery)

On the evidence before Lord Widgery, the most likely candidate to have shot Jack Duddy is Lance Corporal V. The line of trajectory that he plotted for his shot continues to where Jack Duddy fell. One of the men he described approaching his target fits the description of Father Daly.

However the description Soldier V gave of his target does not match Jack Duddy. In one of his accounts he said that he shot after his view had been obscured for a fraction of a second. It is therefore possible that he was aiming for someone else.

Soldier 2003 claims to have shot a boy matching the description of Jack Duddy, but he alternates between saying he was present and absent on Bloody Sunday. (see BIRW report week 4 para 7.9)

7.20.1 Father Daly's Evidence

Father Daly was in Rossville Street, opposite the entrance to Eden Place when he heard the sounds of the APCs revving up. He describes running, with the rest of the crowd, in a southerly direction. Father Daly ran towards the courtyard of the flats and noticed Jack Duddy running alongside him. He remembers this because Jack Duddy was smiling at him, amused at the sight of the priest running. Father Daly overtook Jack Duddy and then heard a shot. He looked around and saw the boy fall on his face. At first he did not take it in that it was a live bullet. Father Daly dived behind the small wall that ran parallel to Block 2 of the flats, for cover.

There was a lull in the firing and Father Daly went to attend to Jack Duddy. He waved a white handkerchief as he made his way. Charles Glen, a Knight of Malta appeared on the other side and started dealing with the blood loss as Father Daly administered the last rites. Gunfire started again and they both had to lie flat on the ground against Jack Duddy's body.

In evidence to Lord Widgery, Father Daly described William Barber and Liam Bradley appearing. Mr Barber said that the best chance of getting an ambulance was to carry Jack Duddy to Harvey Street. He then heard between three and six shots. As the group were about to get up, Father Daly saw a man at the gable end of Chamberlain Street fire two or three shots at the soldiers (see BIRW report week 2 para 4.2.6).

Father Daly waved a handkerchief. There was a burst of gunfire and the group lay down again. Eventually the group got up and carried Jack Duddy up Chamberlain Street, right into Harvey Street and then into Waterloo Street where an ambulance was called. A series of photographs was shown of the group making their way to this point.

7.20.2 Liam Bradley's Evidence

Liam Bradley was running from Chamberlain Street into the Rossville flats car-park. He could see the figure of a boy lying face down on the ground. He ran to the boy, turned him over and recognised him as Jack Duddy. He said the act of contrition in his ear and waited with him.

7.20.3 Gilles Peress' Evidence

Mr Peress took photographs which show Father Daly, Liam Bradley and Charles Glen tending to Jack Duddy. Mr Peress said that shots were being fired as he was taking these photographs.

A small amount of evidence suggests that Jack Duddy may have entered the carpark from Chamberlain Street but the majority of witnesses, including Father Daly, say that he came into the car-park from the direction of Rossville Street/ wasteground.

Civilian accounts of which soldier shot Jack Duddy vary but they broadly fall into two categories.

7.21.1 A soldier firing from APC no 2

Mrs Mary Bonner was looking out from the verandah of her flat in block 2 of flats onto the car-park. She saw the APCs chase the crowd who were running in the direction of the car-park. She saw two soldiers jump out of APC no 2 and one of them seemed to fire as soon as he jumped out.
'He didn't seem to aim it but fired it from waist height.'
She could see Jack Duddy running towards the low wall, heard a bang and watched him fall.

Derek Tucker was also watching from his flat in block 2. He saw soldiers deploying from APC no 2. Two soldiers took up firing positions, one on the left side of the vehicle and the other on the right. He saw the soldier on the east side of the APC shoot Jack Duddy.

Mr Tucker's 17-year old son, Martin, was watching from the window of their flat. He believes it was the soldier on the west side of the APC who fired.

7.21.2 A soldier firing from the north of Block 1

Mrs Duffy was at her brother's flat on the second floor of block 2 of the flats. She saw Jack Duddy running towards the alleyway between blocks 1 and 2. She noticed two soldiers by the northern gable end of block 1 of the flats. They were holding their rifles by their waists. Mrs Duffy was looking back and forth between the soldiers and Jack Duddy. She heard two shots and saw Jack Duddy hit by the second.

Cathleen O'Donnell was trying to get back to her home in block 3 of the flats. She was crawling along the top balcony of block 2 and looked through the railings down to the car-park. She noticed two soldiers standing at the northeast corner of block 1 of the flats. One was a black soldier with very long legs who was shooting his gun around the car-park, firing from waist height and aiming at nothing in particular. The other was a short white soldier who was shooting from a kneeling position in no particular direction. She noticed a young boy who was running across the car-park, by himself and then saw him fall. Her statement suggests that she believes one of the two soldiers was responsible.

Margaret Deery was a 37-year old mother of 13 children. She did not give evidence to Lord Widgery because she was seriously ill following a medical complication in the treatment of her wound. None of the soldiers of Mortar Platoon describes a target resembling the description of Mrs Deery. The information the BSI has on her is limited.

In a statement she gave to the RUC she said that she had run towards Rossville Street when the Army fired dye into William Street. She ran to the back of the flats where she tripped and fell. She could see the soldiers shooting and she tried to get up but she slipped and cut her head and her nose. She said 'I then saw a soldier in front of me and he appeared to be taking aim at me and I then felt a blow to my left thigh.'

A plan in the DPP file shows a spot where Mrs Deery fell as ten yards to the east of block 1 and 2/3rds of the way to the south.

In an interview to the Insight team, Margaret Deery said that Michael Kelly had carried her around to a house in Chamberlain Street. This is the only account that places Michael Kelly here. He was shot dead at the barricade on the west side of Rossville Street. If Mrs Deery's account is correct it could suggest that she was the first person to be shot in this sector because of the time it would have taken for Michael Kelly to get to the barricade.

Michael Bradley was 22-years old and a neighbour of Jack Duddy. In evidence to Lord Widgery he said that he was at the junction of blocks 2 and 3 when he heard that Jack Duddy had been shot. He returned to the carpark and saw a group surrounding the body.

In his statement to the BSI, Mr Bradley said that as soon as he heard about Jack Duddy he jumped over the low wall by block 2 and started shouting at the soldiers, 'moving my hands in a rapid beckoning motion, inviting them to have a go.'
He does not recall throwing stones or bending down to pick up stones. The last thing he remembers before being shot is shouting and gesturing in a beckoning motion at soldiers.

Mr Bradley has given earlier accounts in which he said that he threw some stones at the soldiers. There are a number of accounts which he has given to different journalists over the years which indicate that he was shot, either after he had finished throwing a stone, after he had started throwing stones or after he was about to throw two pieces of brick.

Whilst he saw four or five soldiers, Michael Bradley remembers two in particular. One was leaning over the front mudguard of an APC in a firing position. The soldier was 20 yards away from him. He could hear shooting and remembers a thud in his right arm. He turned and staggered over to the low wall behind him.

No soldier gives evidence of shooting someone who was in the position Michael Bradley places himself.

Michael Bridge was a steward on the march. When he saw the body of Jack Duddy he started shouting at the soldiers. He walked towards a soldier holding his hands and arms up,
'My hands were open with palms facing upwards held to up about shoulder height with my arms part bent. I had nothing in my hands…'

Mr Bridge was shot in the thigh. There were two soldiers who he believes might have shot him. The first was kneeling at the north of block 1of the flats. The second was standing directly in front of him at the back of the wall of 34 Chamberlain Street.

Lieutenant N described firing at a man with a smoking object in his hand, whom he thought he hit in the right thigh but apart from that there is no description of firing a shot which would tally with the wounding of Michael Bridge.

7.24.1 Father Daly's evidence

Father Daly identified Michael Bridge as being to the south of the gable end of 36 Chamberlain Street when he saw him get shot. He had been aware of Michael Bridge whilst he was tending to Jack Duddy,
'He dashed out past us and he danced up and down screaming something at the soldiers. I think it might have been 'shoot me, shoot me.' He shouted something of that nature.'

Father Daly said that Mr Bridge had nothing in his hands. They were over his head and he was waving them around. He saw a soldier step out from the northeast corner of Block 1 of the flats, go down on one knee and fire at Michael Bridge.

7.24.2 Francis Duddy's evidence

Francis Duddy said that he came down Chamberlain Street with Michael Bridge and they both saw Jack Duddy's body in the carpark. He saw Father Daly moving towards Jack Duddy and a soldier shooting live rounds between them. Francis Duddy said
'This caused Mickey Bridge to become very angry and he turned to the soldier and said 'that is a priest you are shooting at.'
He said the soldier ordered them to move back or he would shoot. Michael Bridge told him to go ahead and shoot him, which the soldier did.

Patrick McDaid was 24-years old and he helped to carry Mrs Deery to the house in Chamberlain Street. When he came out of the house he saw a young man get shot and remembers the 20 or 30 people standing near him wanted to get out of the area.

He realised that if he was going to get out of the carpark he would have to run across to the gap between blocks 2 and 3. Three or four people around him ran and made it to the gap. He tried to crawl and then realised it would be better to make a run for it. He saw a low wall as he ran towards the gap and dived over it. As he hit the ground, someone else landed behind him and told him that he had been shot in the back. He was hit at the exact time he bent over to dive over the wall.

The wound in Mr McDaid's left shoulder could have been the result of shots fired by any of the soldiers who fired into the gap between blocks 2 and 3 (soldiers O, Q and R). However none of the descriptions they give of their targets tally with Mr McDaid's description of what he was doing.

Alana Burke was 18 years old. She was badly affected by CS gas at the junction of William Street and Chamberlain Street and was treated by a Knight of Malta. She then made her way down Chamberlain Street to the wasteground. Everyone was running towards the gap between blocks 1 and 2 of the flats. She was close to the entrance to the carpark, just below the wire fence when she was hit by an APC. She was hit on the right side of her back and leg.

Her next recollection is lying by the garages that face into the carpark on the north end of block 1. She crawled towards the alleyway between blocks 1 and 2 and was eventually helped to a house in Joseph Place.

7.27.1 A young man hit by an APC

Martin Tucker, William Harley and Charles Glen have all given evidence saying that a young man was knocked over by an APC in the area of the carpark.

7.27.2 Patrick Brolly

Mr Brolly was treated at Altnagelvin hospital for a laceration to his face. He was looking out the window of a flat in block 2 of the flats. He could see a soldier standing close to block 1 of the flats. He turned away from the window and was hit by a bullet which came through the window and skimmed the left side of his head, just above his forehead.

Soldier 013 said that he fired rubber bullets at the window of the flats but none of the other soldiers refer to firing either rubber or live bullets at the Rossville flats.

Mr Clarke covered a sample of civilian accounts of firing both live rounds and rubber bullets in the courtyard and at the balconies and windows of the flats. There is also evidence of a soldier firing from inside the back of an APC aiming into the alleyway between blocks 1 and 2, bullets fired past people in Chamberlain Street and soldiers firing at people before their APCs had halted.

A number of witnesses refer to difficulties in deciding which direction fire was coming from. James McKinney noted the acoustics created by the layout of the Rossville flats, 'It was like a noise chamber and I could not say exactly where the shooting was coming from.'

A number of civilian witnesses said that Patrick Doherty was near the entrance of blocks 2 and 3 of the flats before he was shot.

Gilles Peress took a series of photographs of three men, one of whom was Patrick Doherty, crawling along the ground trying to reach cover behind block 2 of the flats. He watched the men make their way through the alleyway between blocks 2 and 3 and disappear from view. He followed the men by running in a crouched position to the alleyway. When he got there he saw Patrick Doherty lying wounded on the ground. Mr Peress said that Mr Doherty must have been shot after he had rounded the southeastern corner of block 2.

There are some witnesses who believe that Patrick Doherty was shot whilst he was still in the carpark. Bernard Gilmore believes he saw Mr Doherty shot first in the carpark and then a second time by the south of block 2. (Mr Doherty was killed by one bullet).

The combination of medical evidence and the location in which Mr Doherty died suggests that he was shot to the south of the Rossville flats.

Some incidents keep recurring in the civilian evidence of this sector.

7.30.1 The assault of an elderly man

A number of civilians recorded seeing a soldier or soldiers hitting an elderly man with either the butt or barrel of their rifles. These accounts place the assault in two separate locations, in the wasteground to the north of the flats and at the rear of 36 Chamberlain Street. It is possible that they are references to the same or separate assaults.

The Sunday Times believe that they found this man, or at least one of them. Interview notes with an elderly man called William Doherty recount how he was walking towards the carpark when a Scottish soldier grabbed him. He started hitting Mr Doherty on the top of his head with the barrel of his rifle (causing wounds which needed seven stitches). He was then kicked a distance of 20 yards to an APC. Mr Doherty was thrown inside and a soldier fired a rubber bullet at point blank range into his left arm.

7.30.2 The assault of a Knight of Malta

Witnesses describe the assault of a Knight of Malta taking place behind the back wall of 32 Chamberlain Street or the west wall of 36 Chamberlain Street. Photographs show a Knight of Malta lying against a wall in a position slightly to the north of both these spots.

Soldier V said that he pinned a Knight of Malta against the wall with his rifle (see BIRW week 4 report para 7.2).

7.30.3 The assault of Barman Duffy

Barman Duffy was a 60 year old man who acted as an unofficial doorman to the entrance of block 1 of the flats, when the firing started. A para came into the doorway and Mr Duffy told him that there were no gunmen in the flats, only children. Witnesses describe how the Para hit Mr Duffy in the stomach or kicked him in the testicles and fired a rubber bullet at him.

On the soldier's evidence, only soldier 013 said he went to a stairwell in block 1. He said that he had fired baton rounds up the stairs.

7.30.4 Arrests at 33 Chamberlain Street

People congregated in 33 Chamberlain Street, the house were Mrs Deery and Michael Bridge were taken. 23 men from that house were arrested. Mr Clarke referred to the statements of some of the people who were in the house at that time.

George Nelis, whose mother and sisters lived in the house, recalls the wounded people being brought into the house. Mrs Deery needed an ambulance and Anna Nelis brought two soldiers into the house, asking for their help. Both George and Anna Nelis said the soldiers were making abusive comments about the wounded. The soldiers ordered everyone out of the house into Chamberlain Street. The men were marched up the street with their hands on their heads. They were ordered to crouch down facing the wall, keeping their hands above their heads.

One of the soldiers told Mr Nelis that he had been injured in Belfast but had got his revenge by killing four Irish men. Mr Nelis said that the soldier threatened to kill him that night. The soldier was short and spoke with a Scottish accent. Mr Nelis was taken away in a lorry with the other men. He said that he feared for his life as he thought the soldier would carry out his threat that night.

Mr Nelis made a complaint to the RUC about this incident. The soldier denied being abusive, threatening or ill-treating prisoners. He said that Mr Nelis had been in William Street shouting abuse and encouraging stone throwers.

Other statements referring to the arrests include one from Mr Schlindwein, the chemist who treated Mrs Deery. He said that a Scottish soldier had hit him in the side with the butt of his rifle.

7.31.1 BBC film crews

The BBC had two crews. John Bierman, Cyril Cave and Jim Deeney were filming the march. Mr Cave described how an interview he was conducting with Father Daly was interrupted by gunfire on three occasions. They were standing at the south of block 2 of the flats and he said the firing was from a high-powered gun and came from the direction of the city walls. He said he got the impression that the firing was intended to disrupt the crowd rather than hit anyone.

The second BBC crew followed C Company through barrier 14. They were filming soldiers taking up positions on the corner of William Street and Chamberlain Street when Peter Beggin heard a couple of shots. He said that the soldiers became more alert and started taking cover. These are the soldiers of C Company, not those nearest the flats. Mr Beggin had not seen any individual firing shots.

7.31.2 JP Morris

JP Morris, from the Daily Mail, watched the APCs enter from Little James Street. He saw the Paras chasing a crowd of people. He said they were running in pairs and as they came across someone they would hit them with a rifle, knock them to the ground, kick them and run on to another person.

Mr Morris was seized by two soldiers (he had three professional cameras around his neck). They held him against a wall, one had his rifle across Mr Morris' neck. Mr Morris said 'Press, Daily Mail' and the second soldier lifted his knee which hit Mr Morris' thigh. The soldiers were distracted by a man running towards Eden Place so they threw Mr Morris to the ground and pursued the man.

Photographs taken by Mr Morris were shown which show a boy being dragged to an army vehicle by soldiers. He moved further up Rossville Street and photographed Patrick McDaid being helped into an ambulance. Then firing started and everyone threw themselves to the ground. Mr Morris said that the firing appeared to be coming from two directions.

At the Widgery Inquiry, Mr Morris described three separate incidents of pairs of soldiers coming from behind people, clubbing them with their rifle butts and almost kicking them as they fell. He described the conduct of the soldiers,
'It looked organised to me. They were running in pairs. It looked like a war film where you see a bayonet charge without bayonets. They were running in pairs and knocking persons down and making sure he was down and running after someone else.'

7.31.3 David Capper

David Capper was a BBC radio reporter. He saw soldiers start to fire down Rossville Street as they dismounted from their APCs in the wasteground. At first he thought the soldiers were firing rubber bullets and CS gas. He said there was no indication of firing from anywhere else. It was only later that he realised the shots were live bullets. He said at the time it was beyond his comprehension why the soldiers should be using live bullets.

He watched a youth at the corner of Eden Place ask a soldier for permission to cross the open ground. When the boy was half way across an officer told him to halt. The boy continued running with his hands above his head. A soldier hit him on the side of his head with his rifle and the boy fell to the ground.

Mr Capper recorded a piece which sounds like a machine gun firing but he believed to be the sound of helicopter blades. Audio experts investigated whether the two noises could be confused. They concluded that whilst the likelihood of confusion is small it would still be possible for some one on the ground to mistake the noise of helicopter blades for a machine gun.

7.31.4 Simon Winchester

Simon Winchester of the Guardian wrote an article, which appeared in the paper the day after Bloody Sunday. He said that he came away with the firm impression that the soldiers had fired needlessly into the crowd.
He said that he heard one submachine gun from inside the Rossville flats and a number of small calibre weapons fired intermittently but the sound that predominated was the soldiers' SLRs (self-loading rifles) which continued for 10 to 13 minutes.

During the Widgery Inquiry he said that he saw a soldier firing four or six shots in the general direction of Joseph Place. He saw two people fall to the ground but does not think the same soldier was responsible as he was firing in a different direction. This becomes complicated because in a later article Mr Winchester suggested that 20 soldiers opened fire and three men fell to the ground.

In his statement to the BSI Simon Winchester said that he heard a low calibre shot from the Rossville flats or Glenfada Park areas to the south. He believes that he saw youths clearing a line of fire at Kells Walk. He then watched the soldiers enter. He saw the soldiers debus and kneel down and fire from Glenfada Park to his direction and upwards to the Rossville flats (he was behind the rubble barricade in Rossville Street, close to the southerly end of block 1 of the flats). He sheltered from the fire inside the flats and believes that he heard a machine gun returning the army fire.

He said that when the fire had died down he walked to Fahan Street East, along the City Walls to a point just below OP Charlie at Nailor's Row. He saw two soldiers in Glenfada Park South, one pointed his rifle in Mr Winchester's direction. The soldier went down on one knee and took aim. The next thing he recalls is a small piece of stone falling on the road beside him. He was standing against the City Walls when this happened. The soldier lost interest and moved on. This has changed slightly from the account he gave to Lord Widgery. In that he said that he was between block 2 of the flats and the north part of Joseph Place when the soldier fired at him.

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