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12 - 15 MARCH 2001
This week, the Tribunal heard evidence from two of the people who were wounded on Bloody Sunday. Patrick McDaid and Michael Bridge were both shot in the car park of the Rossville Flats.
Witnesses gave evidence on events in the
car park and south of the Rossville Flats.
A full transcript of proceedings is
available at http://www.bloody-sunday-inquiry.org.uk
1.
FRANCIS
DUNNE’S EVIDENCE
1.1
QUESTIONS
ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
1.1.1
William Street
Mr Dunne saw a man hit by a CS gas
canister in the face. He stood by
Con Bradley’s bar for 20 minutes and somebody told him that a man and a boy
had been shot.
1.1.2
Eden Place/Pilots Row waste ground
Mr Dunne saw a couple of his past pupils
leaning on a burnt out van. He said
that there was not a mass of people on the waste ground.
He saw soldiers debussing from APCs close to the north of Block 1.
He thinks that two APCs stopped to
the north of the Rossville Flats car park.
1.1.3 Rossville Flats car park
Mr Dunne saw a few youngsters near the
swings in front of Block 3 who were throwing stones towards the entrance of the
car park. He said that, at this
time, people were still trying to get through the two gaps between the flats.
Mr Dunne said he thought the shooting he
could hear was rubber bullets because he expected that if the soldiers were
shooting they would be shooting rubber bullets rather than live bullets.
Mr Dunne saw a soldier next to Block 1
of the flats who was leaning against the wall and holding a rifle.
He saw a tall man with fair hair who was shouting loudly.
He watched the man standing with his back to Free Derry Corner.
The man stumbled backwards, clutching his leg. Mr Dunne said that he had the impression that the soldier
fired his gun and the man fell down.
Mr Dunne’s 1972 statement placed the
soldiers at the back of the Chamberlain Street houses.
Mr Dunne agreed that he may have transposed the position of the soldiers
and said that he is happier with his 1972 account.
Mr Dunne thinks that there was a car
without wheels in front of Block 3 of the flats.
He does not know whether shots were fired in the direction of the car.
1.1.4
Civilian gunman
Mr Dunne saw a man at the gable end of
Chamberlain Street. The man had his
back to the wall and his hand extended out.
He had the impression that the man had a handgun in his right hand and
was moving in the direction of Block 1.
1.1.5
South of the Rossville Flats
Mr Dunne went through the gap between
Blocks 1 and 2 and saw a man urging people to get out of the way.
He said that he got the impression that this might be Barney McGuigan.
Mr McDaid looked back through the gap and he thinks that the soldiers who
had previously been watching fired two shots.
Mr Dunne had the impression that
something was whizzing over his head whilst he was in the alleyway between
Blocks 1 and 2. He did not see
anyone with weapons in the alleyway. Mr
Dunne ran to a house in Joseph Place. He
looked out of the window and saw three bodies at the barricade.
Mr Dunne saw soldiers loading bodies
into an APC. He also saw an
ambulance, heard shots and saw Father Mulvey run towards Block 1.
Mr Dunne said that there was no shooting
from any of the Blocks of the Rossville Flats.
1.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES AND THE WOUNDED
1.2.1 Rubble barricade
Mr Dunne agreed that, from the house in
Joseph Place, he had a panoramic view of the rubble barricade.
In his 1972 statement, Mr Dunne said that he had an unobstructed view of
the man with his hands in the air. He
said that the man, who he believes to be Alexander Nash, had nothing in his
hands. He had the impression that
Mr Nash walked onto Rossville Street from the Rossville Flats but he could not
say whether this is his true memory or what he had learned over the years.
1.3
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF NICRA
1.3.1
1972
statement
Mr Dunne agreed that his 1972 statement included his evidence about the civilian gunman at the gable end of Chamberlain Street. His handwritten statement had been typed up by NICRA, word for word.
1.4
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
1.4.1
Civil
rights
Mr Dunne was a teacher at St Joseph’s school. When William Smyth (BIRW report week 22 para 9) gave evidence he said that Mr Dunne was a supporter of the civil rights movement. Mr Dunne agreed that he was a committed nationalist. He attended most of the civil rights marches but did not belong to any organisation. He did not accept the validity of the ban on the marches. He said that anything that was against the will of the Government was banned and so all that people could do was protest.
1.4.2
Rioting
Mr Dunne agreed that rioting was perceived as legitimate. He said that in a perfect world, people would not have to resort to violence. He said that the pupils at St Joseph’s were not encouraged to riot. He said that soldiers would provoke riots by going near to the school at lunchtime.
Mr Dunne said that he could not predict
rioting but it was a generally held impression that there would be some trouble
if the march was stopped. He did
not hear nail bombs or nail bombs. Rioting
was not always related to marching. In
his evidence to the Widgery Inquiry he indicated that he felt the march might be
stopped.
1.4.3
Rossville Flats car park
In Mr Dunne’s 1972 statement, he said
that he had seen three soldiers at the rear of Chamberlain Street who were in a
line running north to south. The
civilian gunman was by the gable wall of Chamberlain Street. Mr Dunne said that he does not think that the soldiers had
their backs to the wall because he would not have been able to see them.
Mr Dunne cannot position the car without
wheels with any certainty. He was
not aware of shooting towards the car.
1.4.4
Praxis interviews
A document from 1993 suggests that the Praxis team interviewed Mr Dunne. In that he said that his memory of Michael Bridge is of him being very distraught and behaving irrationally. He said that Mr Bridge was offering to take on the armed men with his bare fists.
Mr Dunne said that he had taught John
Young. He described Mr Young as a
decent youngster and said that he would not have been aware of him rioting.
2.
CHARLES
McLAUGHLIN’S EVIDENCE
2.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
2.1.1
Rossville Flats car park
Mr McLaughlin was inside a flat in Block
2 of the Rossville Flats. He saw
the body of Jack Duddy and then saw a man break away from the group that was
gathered around Mr Duddy. The man
took steps northwards and had his hands held up in the air. He said the man seemed to be in a rage and shouted ‘shoot
me.’ Mr McLaughlin said that the
man was then shot in the leg.
2.1.2
Civilian gunman
Mr McLaughlin saw a man in an overcoat
at the gable end of Chamberlain Street at a time when there were no civilians in
the car park. The man had a
revolver and fired blindly around the corner.
He said that the man could not see where he was firing because he did not
look around the wall. Mr McLaughlin
saw another man who took the gunman by the lapels of his coat and banged him
against the wall. He knew by the
man’s actions that he was telling the gunman that he might draw fire from the
Army.
2.1.3 Retaining wall of Block 3
Mr McLaughlin saw people sitting with
their backs against the small wall that runs parallel to Block 3. He saw the men edging along the wall towards the alleyway
between Blocks 2 and 3. The men
were hunkering down low and were trying to use two parked cars as cover.
Mr McLaughlin said that the men were quite a way over towards the gap
when the Army started shooting.
Mr McLaughlin did not see a man using
the car as a shield to fire pistol shots at the soldiers.
2.1.4
South
side of Rossville Flats
Mr McLaughlin moved to a window
overlooking the south side of Block 2. He
saw the men he had seen moving across the car park, running from the gap between
Blocks 2 and 3. He thinks that
shots were fired at the men.
Mr McLaughlin saw a man crawling out
from under the canopy of the shops in Block 2.
The man was facing the alleyway. Mr
McLaughlin said that he had just cleared the canopy and was in line with the
back of Joseph Place. He said that
the man he saw was in the same position that Patrick Doherty can be seen in
photographs.
Mr McLaughlin saw a bullet hit the
retaining wall, in line with Fahan Street.
He assumed the shot came from Glenfada Park North. The man who had been crawling, clasped his hand to his right
side and said ‘I am shot again.’ Somebody
crawled out of the entrance to the alleyway.
The man was waving a handkerchief and trying to help the wounded man.
Mr McLaughlin said that the second man was also shot at and had to lie on
the ground. He thinks that the bullet may have hit the wall or ground
near to the man.
2.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES AND THE WOUNDED
2.2.1
South
of the Rossville Flats
Mr McLaughlin’s window was open.
He is positive that the man who was shot said ‘they have shot me
again.’ The man had nothing in his hands and was not doing anything that
represented a threat.
Mr McLaughlin did not see any soldiers
but thinks that the shooting came from Glenfada Park.
2.3
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
2.3.1 Rossville Flats car park
Mr McLaughlin agreed that the civilian
gunman at the gable end of Chamberlain Street fired in the direction of
Rossville Street.
He thinks that there were two cars in
the corner of the car park. The
soldiers were shooting in the direction of the men that were crawling but the
shots hit the car.
2.3.2
1972 statement
Mr McLauglin said that he might not have
told the statement taker in 1972 that he had seen a civilian with a gun at the
gable end of Chamberlain Street. He
does not know why he did not mention it and thinks it may be because it was a
civilian and he was angry with him.
3 PAUL McDAID’S EVIDENCE
3.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
3.1.1
Barrier
14 and Chamberlain street
Mr McDaid was at the junction of William Street and Little James Street. He agreed that the idea behind rioting was to hurt the soldiers. He said that the APCs had reached the junction of William Street and Rossville Street and passed further into Rossville Street before any soldiers had gone through Barrier 14.
Mr McDaid thinks that he was one of the
last to leave Chamberlain Street. He
ran down Chamberlain Street with 30 or 40 other people.
There were soldiers on foot behind him.
He was not conscious of any vehicles going through barrier 14 or shooting
in Chamberlain Street.
3.1.2
Rossville
Flats car park
Mr McDaid was at the gable end of Chamberlain Street when he heard shots. There was a crowd of people at the gable end and most were trying to reach the safety of the gaps. Mr McDaid saw a soldier hit a man with the butt of a rifle.
Mr McDaid went to the gap between Blocks 1 and 2 because this was the main thoroughfare. He saw a Knight of Malta trying to turn a man who was lying face down in the car park. The Knight of Malta told Mr McDaid to get up and carry on running.
Mr McDaid saw a man who had been shot in the back of a thigh. He caught up with the man and helped him to the low wall in front of Block 2. He thinks that this man was Michael Bradley. Mr Clarke said that Mr Bradley had been shot in the arm. Richard Harvey pointed to the evidence of Eugene Lafferty who said that he thinks Paul McDaid helped Michael Bradley.
3.1.3
1972 statement
Mr McDaid was asked about his 1972
statement when he said that he did not see armed civilians until he reached
Meenan Square. He said that he did
not see any armed civilians that day and thinks that the statement taker had
asked him whether he had. The
reference to Meenan Square meant that, at this point, he felt he had reached
safety.
3.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES AND WOUNDED
3.2.1
1972
statement
Mr McDaid did not see any civilian gunmen that day. He was not aware of the evidence suggesting that there were two cars carrying weapons in the Meenan Square area later in the day.
3.3
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
3.3.1
Rossville
Flats car park
Mr McDaid said that the shooting seemed to be mainly coming from the Rossville Street direction. The soldiers he saw were standing near APCs.
The person he helped had been shot in
the leg was shot in the back of the leg.
4.
NEIL
McLAUGHLIN’S EVIDENCE
4.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
4.1.1
Rossville
Flats car park
Mr McLaughlin turned right as he came out of Chamberlain Street. He threw stones at the soldiers from a position near the gable wall. Some soldiers jumped out of the APCs and started firing. Mr McLaughlin said that there was a continuous burst of gunfire and the soldiers had their rifles positioned at their hips. The soldiers were about 20 to 30 yards away from him.
Mr McLaughlin saw Michael Bridge. He thinks that the photograph of the figure standing in front of the APC is Michael Bridge.
4.1.2 Joseph Place
Mr McLaughlin was in the alleyway behind Joseph Place when shots were fired in his direction. He saw dirt jumping up on the bank above the alleyway as the bullets hit the ground. Mr McLaughlin said that he assumed the shots were coming from the walls.
4.1.3 Sunday Times archive
Mr McLaughlin does not recall speaking to a journalist. He is cited in a Sunday Times article and was asked to comment on it.
Mr McLaughlin knew Jack Duddy but is not conscious of having surged up Chamberlain Street with him. He does not remember seeing Jack Duddy at all but says that he may have seen him. He described Mr Duddy as very quiet and said that he usually went miles to avoid trouble.
Mr McLaughlin thinks that he saw Peggy Deery being carried past him in Chamberlain Street rather than actually helped to carry her.
Mr McLaughlin said that he did not see any man with a pistol behind Joseph Place.
The Sunday Times notes suggest that Mr McLaughlin said Hugh Gilmour was in all the riots. Mr McLaughlin does not recognise the part of the notes which states when referring to those who were shot ‘apart from Gillie, Bridges and the other couple, they were all harmless.’
Mr McLaughlin was asked to comment on the Sunday Times notes of an interview with the O’Connor brothers because the notes states that he agreed with their account. Mr McLaughlin said that he did not see a car in Meenan Park with carbines. He did not see a man with a rifle who fired 2 to 3 shots. He said that he has no idea why the journalist wrote ‘Neil McLaughlin confirms this.’
4.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES AND WOUNDED
4.2.1
Sunday Times archive
Mr McLaughlin used to work for Kieran O’Connor. He accepts that some of the detail in the Sunday Times notes could have come from him. However he has no recollection of parts of it.
4.2.2
Rossville Flats car park
Mr McLaughlin agreed on the following sequence of events that he witnessed in the car park: A Knight of Malta fell, Peggy Deery was shot, he saw a group around a body in the car park, Michael Bridge was shot, he saw Mrs Deery carried into a house in Chamberlain Street and he went back to the gable end of Chamberlain Street for cover.
He has no recollection of carrying Mrs Deery but agreed that it is possible that he helped to carry her and has since forgotten it.
Mr McLaughlin does not recall Father Daly. He agreed that it is possible that he did not have a full comprehension of everything that happened in the car park. He has no recollection of people remonstrating with a civilian gunman. He said that he has no reason not to disclose information.
4.3
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
4.3.1
Rossville Flats car park
Mr McLaughlin agreed that he and about 20 people confronted the soldiers who got out of the APC. He agreed that hundreds of people would have seen this.
He agreed that he could not have complained, if he had been arrested for rioting at the barrier.
4.3.2
Sunday Times archive
Mr McLaughlin said that the journalist’s view that he would deny seeing an IRA man even if he had seen one, was not true. He said that he would have said if he had seen a gunman. He did not see any gunmen around Joseph Place.
4.3.3
Peggy Deery
Mr McLaughlin said that his memory of seeing Mrs Deery is faint. He agreed that it is possible that he saw her fall and was only a couple of paces away from her when she fell.
4.4 FURTHER QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
4.4.1
Rossville Flats car park
Mr McLaughlin said that there was a group of people throwing stones at the soldiers at the entrance of the car park and the rest of the people were trying to get out of the car park.
5.
MICHAEL
McGINLEY’S EVIDENCE
Mr McGinley refused to take the oath or affirm before giving evidence. He said that there was no need for him to do this because he was telling the truth.
5.1 QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
5.1.1
Free
Derry Corner
Mr McGinley remembers Bernadette Devlin had just started to talk from the platform when he heard three shots. He was convinced they were fired from the walls because of the sound. The people at Free Derry Corner fell to the ground. There was a lull in the shooting and then Mr McGinley heard a further shot.
5.1.2
Dove
Gardens
Mr McGinley made his way to his mother’s house in Dove Gardens. He noticed people taking cover in the gas yard.
He saw 4 or 5 men trying to stop 2 men
from fighting. One of the men said
‘you bastard, you nearly got us killed.’
Mr McGinley did not hear anything more of the conversation.
He saw a young man with a head injury.
He did not know the young man’s name but saw him after Bloody Sunday,
in Eglington Place.
5.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES AND THE WOUNDED
5.2.1
Injured
man
Mr McGinley saw the injured man near John Toye’s shop. He was bleeding from the head. Mr Mansfield suggested that the injured man was Daniel Gillespie who lived in Lisfannon Park which is close to Eglington Place. In order to go from his house to the treatment centre, Mr Gillespie would have had to pass Toye’s shop.
5.3
QUESTIONS
ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
5.3.1
Injured
man
Mr McGinley did not know the injured man’s name. He said that he was in his mid to late 20s, had dark hair and was a light build. The man had a wound to the left hand side of his forehead and was bleeding profusely around his head.
5.3.2
Altercation
Mr McGinley said that the remark ‘you
bastard, you nearly got us all killed,’ was not made to the injured man.
It was made to another man and he did not know what the man had done to
provoke the allegation.
5.3.3
Gas
yard
Mr McGinley was not aware of any weapons stored at the gas yard.
6.
CHARLIE
DOWNEY’S EVIDENCE
6.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
6.1.1
Explosion
Mr Downey had his lunch at his mother in law’s house in Gartan Square which is near Westland Street. He has a vague memory of hearing an explosion at around 1:30pm to 2:00pm. He could not tell which direction the sound appeared to come from.
6.1.2
Rossville
Flats car park
Mr Downey cannot remember whether the
soldiers got to the car park before him. The
APC had passed him and gone to the entrance to the car park.
Mr Downey thinks that he was one of the stragglers in reaching the car
park. The large crowd seemed to
have thinned out.
As he ran through the car park he saw
Michael Bridge standing between Block 1 and the gable of Chamberlain Street,
facing a soldier. He was shouting
‘shoot me, shoot me you bastards’ and waving his arms.
He heard a single loud bang and saw Mr Bridge staggering.
He assumed that it was the soldier at the northeast corner of Block 1
because Mr Bridge had walked towards him. He
did not see anyone immediately close to Mr Bridge.
6.1.3
Kevin McElhinney
Mr Downey was in shock and went to the gap between Blocks 1 and 2. Bullets were hitting the double doors at the main entrance to Block 1. He noticed a young lad on the ground in front of the doors. Two men in white coats were working on young man. The crowd was trying to get into the foyer and kept pushing into the young man. Mr Downey tried to hold them back to give the men space to work on him.
Mr Downey can be seen in photographs,
carrying the young man, Kevin McElhinney to an ambulance.
There were a number of men on the street, waving white handkerchiefs.
Mr Downey helped other people outside
Block 1.
6.1.4
Glenfada
Park North
Mr Downey has a memory of being in
Glenfada Park North and trying to help with the three bodies which were in the
southwest corner. He first saw the
bodies as he was carrying the first boy to the ambulance.
He does not recognise the photograph of the three bodies in Glenfada Park
North. Mr Downey said that he
thought the bodies were closer to Rossville Street. He said that the bodies were placed on stretchers and taken
to ambulances. He does not recall
any of the bodies being taken on stretchers to Abbey Park.
Mr Downey recalls seeing a soldier lying
on his stomach, pointing his rifle towards the southeast corner of Glenfada Park
North.
6.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES AND WOUNDED
6.2.1 South
of the Rossville Flats
Mr Downey can be seen in some photographs, wheeling the stretcher carrying Michael Bradley to an ambulance in Rossville Street.
6.2.2
Glenfada
Park North
Mr Downey agreed that so much had happened and he had seen so much that day that he cannot remember the scene in Glenfada Park North precisely. He does remember a number of bodies being placed in ambulances. Mr Downey said that he believes the bodies he saw in Glenfada Park North were placed in ambulances.
6.3
QUESTIONS
ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
6.3.1
Marches and riots
Mr Downey agreed that a riot was predictable, particularly if the security services tried to prevent a march going through.
6.3.2
Rossville
Flats car park
Mr Downey said that he looked at Michael Bridge long enough to know that he did not have anything in his hands when he was shot.
6.3.3
Glenfada
Park North
Mr Downey saw a soldier on his stomach in Glenfada Park North. The soldier was pointing his gun in the direction of the three bodies. Mr Downey said that this was the last soldier he saw that day. He remembers this even though he was in deep shock. He did not notice whether the soldier had a radio on his back. He did not see any people under arrest.
7.
JAMES
ROWE’S EVIDENCE
7.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
7.1.1
Rossville
Flats car park
Mr Rowe ran down Chamberlain Street and noticed Michael Bradley running beside him. He saw Mr Bradley go towards the gap between Blocks 1 and 2. Mr Rowe dived over the wall. He said that Mr Bradley came away from the gap and walked into the car park. He said that he was told later Mr Bradley came out of the gap when someone told him that a boy had been shot. People were shouting for Mr Bradley to get down. He was shot and thrown backwards and landed on Mr Rowe. Mr Rowe did not see any soldiers but could hear the Army vehicles.
7.1.2
South of the Rossville Flats
Mr Rowe crawled from the south gable end
of Block 1 and when he reached the gap he heard live rounds for the first time.
He saw Bernard McGuigan take two or three steps towards Rossville Street.
Mr Rowe was about six feet away from Mr McGuigan.
He thought that Mr McGuigan was walking out towards the barricade.
Mr McGuigan fell on his back. Mr
Rowe had the impression that the shot was fired along Rossville Street by one of
the soldiers. Mr Clarke said that the forensic evidence shows that Mr
McGuigan was shot in the back of his head.
He would either have had to turn from this position or he was not shot by
someone in Rossville Street.
Mr Rowe had the impression that there
were some bodies on the barricade. He
thinks that he was one of the last people to leave Block 1. He had been at the gable end for about 20 minutes and can be
seen in photographs by Block 1.
7.1.3
Rossville
Flats car park
Mr Rowe went to his friend’s flat in Block 1. He said that when he reached the third balcony he heard a dozen high velocity shots strike the walls and railings of the floors above him.
He saw a photographer in the car park,
near the swings. He heard an
English voice shouting ‘stop taking photographs or I will shoot you.’
The photographer came down from the mound of clay that he had been
standing on. Mr Rowe said that
there was shooting in the car park.
Mr Clarke said that much of the evidence
suggests that Bernard McGuigan was one of the last, if not the last person to be
shot. The evidence suggests that,
after that, much of the firing had died down with the exception of Rossville
Street. Mr Rowe said that he could
be mistaken and the firing could have been coming from Rossville Street rather
than the car park.
7.2
QUESTIONS
ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
7.2.1
Bernard
McGuigan
Mr Rowe sheltered by the small brick building, next to the telephone box, at the gable end of Block 1. He said that there were about 20 to 30 people there. He spent most of the time in this position.
Mr Rowe did not see Mr McGuigan turn at
all. He saw him walking out with a
hanky in his hand. Mr McGuigan had
nothing else in his hand. He did
not notice Mr McGuigan look down the alleyway.
He had the impression that the shot which killed Mr McGuigan was fired
from Rossville Street.
7.2.2
Michael
Bradley
Mr Rowe agreed that events had happened a long time ago when Mr Kennedy suggested that Michael Bradley had come out from the gap between Blocks 2 and 3 rather than 1 and 2.
8.
JOHN CARLIN’S EVIDENCE
8.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
8.1.1 High
Street
Mr Carlin saw a group of 5 or 6 young men trying to get into a property which would have led on to the Bookies in William Street. He did not see the men actually break in to the building. He heard the men arguing amongst themselves and others trying to stop them. He said the men were trying to get into the building to get at the soldiers.
8.1.2
Rossville Flats car park
Mr Carlin heard two or three shots
whilst he was running across the car park.
He heard someone to his right scream and then a further two or three
shots. He did not see anybody fall
in the car park.
8.1.3
Joseph
Place
Mr Carlin was down on his hunkers when a shot hit the wall, 6 to 10 inches above his head. He said that he was very close to Fahan Street East steps. Mr Carlin crawled towards Free Derry Corner.
8.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
8.2.1
1972
statement
Mr Carlin does not recall giving a statement in 1972. He agrees that the 1972 statement that the BSI have with his name and details on it contains most of his evidence. Mr Lawson suggested that he had given an account in 1972 which was tape-recorded and that someone had inserted ‘rubber bullets’ into his account.
Mr Carlin agreed that what is in the tape recorded transcript corresponds with what he recollects of Bloody Sunday. He said that he did not make a statement in 1972 and agreed that someone had either made up a statement in his name or misrepresented what he recollects.
8.2.2 Joseph Place
Mr Carlin disagreed with the suggestion
that he heard a shot when he was in the gap between the Joseph Place flats and
Block 2 of the flats.
9.
DENIS MULLAN’S EVIDENCE
9.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
9.1.1 Rossville
Flats car park
Mr Mullan was watching from the first balcony of Block 1 of the Rossville Flats. He said that within 90 seconds of arriving in the car park, the army vehicle came down Rossville Street. He recalls seeing one APC in the courtyard.
Mr Mullan said that he saw someone hit
by the bull bars on the Army vehicles. He
thinks that the person was clipped as the APC came to a halt.
He saw the person bounce off the corner of the vehicle as the APC
screeched to a halt. Two soldiers
debussed from the APC and adopted firing attitudes, bringing the rifle to a
firing position and taking the weight on the left foot forward.
Mr Mullan saw two soldiers.
One was between Block 1 and the APC.
The second soldier was covering the first.
He said that the soldier was facing southeast.
Michael Bridge approached from the
direction of Block 2, saying, ‘here I am, shoot me.’
Mr Mullan was shown a photograph of a man standing in the car park in
front of an APC. He said that in
terms of general build, deportment and hairstyle, it would fit with his
impression of Michael Bridge. The
soldier next to the APC shot Mr Bridge. Mr
Mullan does not think he was shooting in order to kill because his rifle
inclined downwards slightly to strike Mr Bridge in the leg as opposed to the
upper body.
Mr Mullan said that he had the
impression that Michael Bridge was reacting to an incident, which had already
happened, rather than bravado.
Mr Mullan went into a flat and saw a
lady who appeared to be having a fit, being tended to.
He saw one hole in the living room window, which faced onto Rossville
Street. He said that the hole was
made by a rubber bullet.
Mr Mullan came back onto the balcony and
heard a helicopter. He thought that
someone might think that it was gunfire.
He had heard the sound of a Thompson sub machine gun on a previous
occasioned said that it made a similar sound.
Mr Mullan could see people huddled in
the corner between Blocks 1 and 2. He
had seen a body, which looked like a heap of clothing.
He looked southwards from the walkway between Blocks 1 and 2 and saw the
body of Bernard McGuigan.
9.1.2
Father
Daly’s gunman
Mr Mullan saw a man in a duffle coat carrying a gun towards the end of Chamberlain Street. He said that he had the impression that the man was refusing to use his weapon. He said that someone in the courtyard was challenging him with the words ‘totally bloody useless.’ Mr Mullan said that this incident took place in the midst of people still moving down Chamberlain Street. Mr Mullan deducted that the incident happened before the vehicles arrived because if the man had produced a gun when the soldiers where there he would have been shot. He said that his recollection is a series of freeze frames rather than in a sequence.
9.1.3
Stairwell of Block 1 of the Rossville Flats
Mr Mullan edged back towards the balcony
and saw a man lying in the stairwell at the south end of block 1.
The man was lying, with his upper body against the wall of the landing on
the turn of the stairs. The man was
being looked after by a Knight of Malta and Dennis Bradley.
9.1.4 Incident at junction of Blucher Street and Westland Street
Mr Mullan made his way to his friend’s house and on the way saw someone getting stuck into someone who was in the Official IRA. The man was harangued with ‘what are you going to do about this?’ Mr Mullan said that he knew the man was in the Officials because he had seen him at demonstrations.
9.2 QUESTIONS
ON BEHALF OF NICRA
9.2.1
Inquest
Mr Mullan was a trainee solicitor at the time of Bloody Sunday, working under the city Coroner, Major Hubert O’Neill. Mr Mullan did not work on the inquests of those who were killed on Bloody Sunday. He believes that there was a jury at the inquest and that it was a widely selected jury of citizens.
9.3
QUESTIONS
ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
9.3.1
Derry Civil Rights Association
Mr Mullan was a member of the Derry
Civil Rights Association. He was
not involved in the organisation of the march.
He does not know whether the march was organised by the Derry branch.
Mr Mullan does not know whether the Derry branch organised the stewarding
for the march. He believed that the
march was going to the Guildhall.
9.3.2 Rossville
Flats car park
Mr Mullan believed that the person he saw knocked down by the APC was a male. He said that the person was not involved in a physical fight with a soldier.
He said that he could not give a
sequential account of events. He
can only give his impression of what he saw.
Mr Mullan believes that the soldier on the western side of the APC, fired
one single shot. The soldier was
standing to the right of the open rear door of the APC.
The soldier was a matter of inches from the APC.
Mr Mullan saw nothing being thrown from
the balcony. He said that there was
a collection of extremely frightened people who were not about to invite
retribution. He cannot recall
anything hitting the APC. He said
that there were not more than five other people on the balcony with him.
Mr Mullan did not see any hand-to-hand fighting or missiles being thrown
or a group of men running at the APC.
Mr Mullan does not think that his
thoughts about the helicopter being mistaken for fire has been coloured by what
he has read subsequently.
9.3.3
Stairwell of Block 1 of the Rossville Flats
Mr Mullan said that he got the
impression that the injured person was dying because the Knight of Malta
indicated that he could not find a pulse.
9.3.4
Civilian gunman
Mr Mullan said that he saw 2 men
confronting the gunmen before the APCs arrived.
10.
ALFIE McALEER’S EVIDENCE
10.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUANL
10.1.1 William Street
Mr McAleer was throwing stones at soldiers who were at the corner of the Abbey Taxis building on William Street. He said that the soldiers were standing with shields in front of the building. Mr McAleer said that Damien Donaghy went into the middle of William Street by himself to throw stones. He heard the thud of a rubber bullet being fired. Mr McAleer was at the gable wall of the Nook Bar when he saw that Damien Donaghy was shot in the leg.
10.1.2