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This week, the Tribunal heard from civilians who witnessed events in the Rossville Flats car park. Many of the witnesses had been watching from their own flats. The Tribunal also heard evidence from William Smyth who took Teresa Bradley’s statement in 1972 (see BIRW report week 17 para 5). Mrs Elizabeth Dunleavy gave an eyewitness account of the shooting of Alexander Nash.
For the first time since the Tribunal has been hearing evidence from civilians, one witness was asked questions about his criminal record. This follows a decision by the Tribunal to ask the RUC for the criminal records of witnesses.
A full transcript of proceedings is available at http://www.bloody-sunday-inquiry.org.uk
1
NOEL DOHERTY’S EVIDENCE
1.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
1.1.1
Barrier 14
When Mr Doherty arrived, he saw some stewards and John Young already at barrier 14. Mr Doherty said that the crowd decreased to about 25 or 30 young men after the water cannon had been used. There were also people in Chamberlain Street and at the east end of William Street. He recalls a tin sheet being used as a shield.
Mr Doherty was one of the last to leave barrier 14. When he ran down Chamberlain Street there were a few other people running down. As he left barrier 14, as far as he could see, William Street appeared to be clear of people.
1.1.2
Rossville Flats car park
Mr Doherty saw soldiers at the corner of block 1. He saw one soldier firing diagonally across the car park.
Mr Doherty ran towards the alley between block 2 and 3. He could see two APCs and saw Jack Duddy fall to his right. He could hear a lot of shooting.
Mr Doherty knelt next to Jack Duddy. He looked towards block 1 and saw a soldier open fire. He felt bullets whizzing past his head. He ran to the shelter of the wall in front of block 2. He saw two people being tended to behind the wall, one had been shot in the leg and the other had been shot in the side. Mr Doherty tried to crawl along the wall. He stood up, turned around and saw a soldier aiming. He said that two shots hit the concrete wall between blocks 2 and 3. Whilst he was in the car park, he had not noticed any missiles thrown from Block 1 and had not heard any pistol fire coming from either of the alleyways between the two blocks.
1.1.3
South of Rossville Flats
Mr Doherty ran through the gap between blocks 2 and 3. He estimated that this happened within a matter of minutes of him first entering the Rossville Flats car park.
When he got through the gap, he saw a body on the ground near the western gable of block 2. He could see blood flooding out of the head of the body and people sheltering by the telephone box close to the body, shouted for him to take cover.
The shooting started again and Mr Doherty ran back towards Joseph Place alleyway and then to St Columbs Wells.
He saw people being carried to Fahan Street and put into cars. He recalls one of the injured people as being wounded in the hip.
1.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
1.2.1 NICRA statement
Mr Doherty did not make a statement in 1972 because he was scared of being charged with rioting.
1.2.2
Riots
Mr Doherty had been present at riots before Bloody Sunday. He agreed that the riot at barrier 14 was no different to riots that had occurred on previous marches.
1.2.3
Barrier 14
Mr Doherty saw John Young pleading with the people at the barrier to go back at an early stage. Mr Doherty was shown photographs of the scene around the barrier and agreed that Mr Young could be seen throwing stones.
Mr Doherty thinks that he was one of the last people at the barrier before the soldiers entered. He was not aware of a crowd in Chamberlain Street when he ran down it.
1.2.4
Rossville Flats car park
Mr Doherty said that a soldier fired 5 or 6 shots diagonally across the courtyard and then fired again whilst he was tending to Jack Duddy.
He was only aware of one person falling. He did not see Father Daly’s gunman. He was not aware of any low velocity shots fired.
Mr Doherty said that he was surprised that the soldiers had gone as far as the Rossville Flats area because it was not their normal procedure. The soldiers normally stopped at the Rossville Street corner.
2
MARY BONNER’S EVIDENCE
Mary Bonner is the sister of Hugh Gilmore who was killed on Bloody Sunday.
2.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
2.1.1
Rossville Flats car park
Mrs Bonner lived in block 2 of the Rossville Flats. She looked out of the window overlooking the Rossville Flats car park and could see a crowd of people running down Chamberlain Street.
She heard bangs that sounded like rubber bullets and the sound of a helicopter. She saw two APCs at the entrance of the car park. She saw one soldier in a kneeling position. He was aiming his rifle and fired from waist height. She had seen him get out of the APC and heard shots from that area.
Mrs Bonner saw Jack Duddy running. She said that he was one of the last people in the car park. She heard a bang that seemed to come from the APC at the north end of block 1 and saw Mr Duddy fall on his face.
She saw a man, she now knows to be Michael Bridge, with his hands up. She heard one shot and saw him clutch his hip. Mrs Bonner could not tell which soldier had shot him.
2.1.2
South of the Rossville Flats
Mrs Bonner moved to her bedroom window, which overlooked the south side of the Flats. She could see a group of people using a low wall near Joseph Place, which runs at a right angle from the retaining wall for shelter. She saw one man slump forward. She said that the group were facing the direction of Rossville Street.
Mrs Bonner agreed that the man she had seen slump forward was not Patrick Doherty because the first time she saw Mr Doherty was when he was lying on his back.
2.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE
SOLDIERS
2.2.1 Rossville Flats car park
Mrs Bonner remembers APCs coming up Rossville Street, very fast. She noticed two APCs that had already arrived. She saw a soldier get out of an APC and shoot once. She does not know whether he fired the further two shots that she heard but the shots came from the same direction.
Mrs Bonner did not see Father Daly’s gunman. She heard a conversation about him, subsequently.
2.2.2
NICRA statement
Mrs Bonner does not recall making a joint statement with her brother and mother. She agreed that she was distressed after her brother was killed. Her mother lived in a flat near to her own. In his statement to the BSI, her brother, Bernard Gilmore said that he saw the civilian gunman. Mrs Bonner said that she had gone between her own and her mother’s flat. She was not at her mother’s flat all the time.
3
CATHLEEN O’DONNELL’S EVIDENCE
3.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
3.1.1
Rossville Street
Mrs O’Donnell was walking northwards along Rossville Street, towards William Street. All of a sudden, people near Kells Walk shouted to her to go back. A crowd was running south down Rossville Street. Someone shouted ‘they’re shooting live rounds.’ The people, who had been moving northwards, turned and ran south. Mrs O’Donnell ran into block 1 of the Rossville Flats.
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