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3 - 6 DECEMBER 2001
This week, the Tribunal heard evidence from Dr Raymond McClean who treated some of the dead and wounded on Bloody Sunday and attended the post mortems. After Dr McClean’s evidence, Lord Gifford asked the Tribunal for clarification on their ruling about notification of allegations.
Noel McCloone gave evidence about the shooting of Bernard McGuigan. Peter McLaughlin described the shooting of Patrick Doherty and Patrick Walsh’s attempts to help him. Gerald McCauley described seeing Gerard McKinney and Gerard Donaghy shot.
Anthony Martin, a member of the Derry CRA, told the Tribunal how the committee received the IRA assurance.
A full transcript of proceedings is available at http://www.bloody-sunday-inquiry.org.uk
1 NUALA NI DHOMHNAILL’S EVIDENCE
1.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
1.1.1
Rossville Street
Ms Ni Dhomhnaill was with Nell McCafferty and Patsy Murphy on the march. She followed the majority of marchers down Rossville Street. She did not see anyone throwing stones and missiles from the rubble barricade at the approaching soldiers.
She recalls soldiers leaping out of APCs and dispersing into positions. The shooting started shortly after the APCs came in. People started to run and Ms Ni Dhomhnaill described it as chaos. Ms Ni Dhomhnaill said that it is possible that she heard rubber bullets.
1.1.2
Glenfada Park North
Ms Ni Dhomhnaill ran into a house in Glenfada Park North. She went into the front room of the house and stood back from the window. Eventually, the shooting stopped; the shouting, screaming and noise of the ambulances continued.
Ms Ni Dhomhnaill said that she had a picture in her mind of seeing people running past the gate of the house. She saw a soldier in the car park as she ran into the house. She recalls him firing and said that he did not seem to be aiming at anyone in particular. People were running from Rossville Street towards the exit of Glenfada Park. She thought the soldier was firing a rifle rather than a rubber bullet gun.
1.1.3 Praxis
notes
Ms Ni Dhomhnaill does not know whether the Praxis team interviewed her. The notes state that ‘they both confirm Nell’s gunmen story. But their memories are not as good as Nell’s. Nuala thinks they were carrying revolvers not rifles, but they agree they were both young men.’
Ms Ni Dhomhnaill said that she had given the question of whether she saw gunmen on the day a lot of thought. She thought that she had not but remembers that at some point in the march Nell said to her ‘look there is two fellows/men with guns.’ She said that she saw two people with something in their hands, but she was really not that near. She does not remember being further south than Free Derry Corner. She had not seen the Bogside Inn during the march. Her memory is that it was at a time in the march before there was any kind of trouble.
1.1.4
Irish Times
Ms Ni Dhomhnaill said that she had written ‘nobody fired at the soldiers before they fired themselves,’ because of the media reports that the Army claimed they had been inundated by hails of fire before they opened fire. She was not aware of anybody firing at the soldiers.
1.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES AND WOUNDED
1.2.1
Civilian gunmen
Ms Ni Dhomhnaill agreed that in her BSI statement she said that she had no recollection of seeing civilian gunmen. She said that she firmly believed that when she said it but having read about Nell McCafferty’s evidence in the newspaper, she had tried to remember. It is only since last week that the memory of the conversation she had with Ms McCafferty came to mind.
Ms Ni Dhomhnaill agreed that she did not put it in her article. She said that her article was dictated over the phone on the evening of Bloody Sunday and the overall emphasis of the article was about the shock and horror of the day.
Ms Ni Dhomhnaill said that she had no recollection of confirming Nell McCafferty’s story or of men carrying revolvers rather than rifles to the Praxis team. She said that as far as she is aware, Patsy Murphy was not aware of Nell saying anything on the march.
Ms MacDermott suggested that Ms Ni Dhomhnaill might have tried her best to find something that might fit into Ms McCafferty’s evidence and this had come to mind. Ms Ni Dhomhnaill said that she was not making something up simply to support Ms McCafferty’s evidence. She does not remember any scene involving women clipping the two fellows around the ear.
1.2.2
Glenfada Park North
Ms Ni Dhomhnaill remembers seeing a body very close to a gate when she came out of the house. She agreed that it was possible that she may well have seen a soldier kneeling through the aperture of the gate.
1.3
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
1.3.1
Shooting
Ms Ni Dhomhnaill has a recollection of shooting as soon as the soldiers dispersed. She thought it was live fire but said that she would not be in a position to say whether it was live fire or rubber bullets.
1.3.2
Civilian gunmen
Ms Ni Dhomhnaill said that she does not recall having a conversation with anyone about revolvers or rifles.
2
CARMEL McCALLION’S EVIDENCE (nee McCafferty)
2.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
2.1.1
William Street
Mrs McCallion said that she was standing in the doorway of the Foyle Travel Agency with Jim Wray. She said that Mr Wray was holding a rolled up banner and he wanted to get up onto a window ledge to look over the crowds. She helped him up and then ran off when the water cannon was used. Mr Wray was not taking part in the riot.
2.1.2
Rossville Street
Mrs McCallion said that she saw Michael McDaid walking along Rossville Street towards William Street. She had a conversation with him about his date in Buncrana. She pointed him in the direction of Little James Street where he was going to be able to catch a bus.
Mrs McCallion had tied a scarf around Mr McDaid’s neck to protect him from the gas. She said that looking back, it made him look like a rioter. She had not seen Mr McDaid at all at Barrier 14. Mrs McCallion was shown photographs which show Mr McDaid at the barrier. She said that she was surprised to see him at any kind of riot. She did not intend to convey the impression that Mr McDaid was not involved in rioting. She had not seen him rioting and her account had not been intended to make it appear to the Tribunal that he had not been involved in rioting.
Mrs McCallion heard shooting from somewhere near Little James Street. She saw soldiers coming into Rossville Street. She saw a soldier with a radio transmitter and said that she hoped he would fall and she could have done to him whatever he was going to do with her. She thought he would kill her and said that she would have hit him a thump. She heard shooting but did not see any vehicles.
Mrs McCallion ran down Rossville Street and as she approached the rubble barricade, people were telling her to lie down. She said that she curled up in a ball on the edge of the rubble barricade. Her boyfriend, Kevin picked her up and they ran to Joseph Place. She saw the feet of a man lying at the telephone box.
2.1.3
Joseph Place
Mrs McCallion said that she huddled in the alleyway behind Joseph Place. She heard bullets hitting the wall behind her. She thought that they could only have been fired from the OP on the Derry Walls. She said that she was not confused in thinking that the bullets were closer than they actually were.
Mrs McCallion could see soldiers on the northeast side of Glenfada Park South.
2.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
2.2.1
Barrier 14
Mrs McCallion agreed that she was a rioter at the time. She went to the barrier because she was frustrated that they could not get to the Guildhall. She had not gone to the barrier to riot. When the riot broke out, she took part in it.
2.2.2 IRA
Mrs McCallion said that she had not heard one way or the other whether the IRA would be involved. She said that she would have known if they had been about that day. She said that she was not singling herself out as likely to know more than anybody else. Derry was a very close-knit community and people would have said ‘there’s the boys’ so she would ignore them and walk on.
Mrs McCallion said that the attitude of the soldiers suggested that it was more than an arrest operation. She did not know that it was an IRA tactic to isolate or kill the radio operator.
3 KEVIN McCALLION’S EVIDENCE
3.1 QUESTIONS ON BEHALF
OF THE TRIBUNAL
3.1.1 Rossville Street
Mr McCallion was walking down Rossville Street when he heard the shout that the Army were coming in. He could hear the APCs. He heard high velocity shooting coming from behind him. He cannot be sure whether this was before or after the soldiers had disembarked from the vehicles.
Mr McCallion clambered over the rubble barricade and saw a man who was lying on his face. Mr McCallion said that he did not know whether the man had been shot or had tripped.
3.1.2
Joseph Place
Mr McCallion remembers running with his girlfriend, Carmel to Joseph Place. He paused for a time by the telephone box and then ran to the alleyway behind Joseph Place. They sheltered in the alleyway with Eddie Harrigan. Mr Harrigan was describing what he could see. Mr McCallion could not see what Mr Harrigan was describing.
Mr McCallion made his way down the alley at the back of Joseph Place. He could hear shooting and at the time was convinced that it was coming from the walls.
3.1.3
Westland Street
Mr McCallion went past the Bogside Inn. When he reached Cable Street, he saw two cars in Elmwood Road. There were four or five men standing around the cars and Mr McCallion said he recognised them as alleged members of the IRA.
Mr McCallion did not see any weapons. The men were standing around talking. He did not know the names of the men. He heard people berating the men asking them where they had been when the firing broke out. He thinks that the men may have replied ‘leave it to us and you go on home.’ Mr McCallion said that there were a number of cars that were seen at the checkpoints and people referred to them as the IRA. He knew the people by sight but not personally.
3.1.4
1972 statement
Mr McCallion said that his 1972 statement was written in his own words. It was countersigned by Mr Smith who was Mr McCallion’s colleague at St Joseph’s school. He said that the words ‘I have no doubt whatsoever that the Army fired indiscriminately into a fleeing crowd of innocent people’ were his rather than Mr Smith’s words.
3.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES AND WOUNDED
3.2.1
South of the Rossville Flats
Mr McCallion was asked about his 1972 statement about seeing a man carried from the direction of the Fahan Street East steps along the foyer of the shops. This was either on his way to taking cover or whilst he was taking cover. He was shown the photograph of the group carrying the body of Patrick Doherty. Mr McCallion thinks that the man was carried along by the foyer before he ran to the back of Joseph Place.
3.3
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
3.3.1
1972 statement
In his 1972 statement, Mr McCallion said that he saw two men being carried away in cars whilst he was in St Columbs Wells. In his BSI statement he remembers seeing the cars but does not recall the wounded men. He said that these cars were different to the ones with the alleged IRA men. They were in different locations.
Mr McCallion said that he had not mentioned seeing the alleged IRA men in his 1972 statement. He said that it was because he was not asked at the time. He had been specifically asked about IRA activity when he gave his BSI statement. It was about half an hour after the shootings when he had seen the cars.
In his 1972 statement he had said that he ‘did not see anyone with guns.’ Mr McCallion said that the alleged IRA men he had seen did not have guns.
4
ANTHONY CRAWFORD’S EVIDENCE
4.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
4.1.1
Shiels’ house
Mr Crawford said that he went to the Shiels’ house to get a gas mask to protect himself from the gas. He said that the Shiels’ house was a regular place to get a gas mask. The last time he had been injured in a riot, he had gone to the Shiels’ house. He did not know that he could go to Vinny Coyle’s house if he was injured.
Mr Crawford saw Damien Donaghy and John Johnston at the Shiels’ house. He has no recollection of hearing live firing. There was panic amongst the people who were standing around the Shiels’ house. He was not aware of any argument about someone having fired back at the Army.
4.1.2
Glenfada Park South
Mr Crawford went to Glenfada Park South. He has no recollection of the route that he took. He remembers hearing people screaming and panicking. He could see down to Free Derry Corner and saw people running in all different directions.
Mr Crawford sheltered on the eastern gable end of the southern block of Glenfada Park South. He saw two pieces of plaster fall from the gable wall about 12 feet up from the ground. He does not remember any further shooting after this.
Mr Crawford was asked about the evidence of Alfie McAteer. Mr McAteer said that he saw an old man from the Catholic ex serviceman’s Association, in this location. He said that the man was crying into the radio that he could see three dead people. Mr Crawford said that he remembers about 6 to 10 people in this area. He does not remember anyone with a walkie-talkie or seeing anyone who had been shot.
4.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
4.2.1
Shiels’ house
Mr Crawford said that he would go to the Shiels’ house if he were injured. He did not know any other places to go.
5
GERALD McCAULEY’S EVIDENCE
5.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
5.1.1
Glenfada Park/Columbcille Court
Mr McCauley moved from William Street to Glenfada Park. He could see people along the western wall of Glenfada Park North. Mickey McLaughlin called to him not to cross the gap. He could not tell where the shooting was coming from. Mr McCauley put his head around the corner of the wall looking towards Rossville Street. He saw an APC and three soldiers. Two of the soldiers were down on one knee and had their guns in firing positions. The soldiers were positioned in each corner of an entry facing towards Mr McCauley’s position. He could see the heads of soldiers coming from the direction of William Street, through Columbcille Court.
Mr McCauley said that one of the shots that came up the entry grazed the sleeve of his jacket. He did not have anything in his hands at the time. In his evidence to the Widgery Inquiry, Mr McCauley had not mentioned a shot grazing the sleeve of his jacket. He said that Lord Widgery could not understand what he was talking about and had told counsel to tell Mr McCauley to sit down.
5.1.2
Columbcille Court/Abbey Park
Someone called Mr McCauley into a house. He went inside and cleaned himself up. He looked out of the downstairs window and could still hear cracks of rifle fire. The windows overlooked Abbey Park and the western block of Glenfada Park North. Mr McCauley was not conscious of any other soldiers in the direction of the Stardust Ballroom or Abbey Park.
Mr McCauley saw two people walk out from the wall on the west side of the western block of Glenfada Park North. They reached a set of low steps. The two men walked out two feet apart. The older man went first. When they were five or six yards away from the wall they were shot. They had nothing in their hands and were not even running. The young man waved his hands in the air, his legs jerked and he fell to the ground. This happened just a couple of minutes after Mr McCauley had gone into the house. The young boy started falling first but the older man hit the ground first. They had walked out two feet apart from each other.
After Bloody Sunday, Mr McCauley learnt the names of the two men were Gerard McKinney and Gerard Donaghy. Mr McCauley said that Gerard Donaghy was groaning and he saw his legs move. He walked out of the house towards Mr Donaghy. Mr McKinney was lying on his back. As Mr McCauley walked towards Mr Donaghy, he could see two soldiers in the alleyway between Glenfada Park North and Glenfada Park South.
Mr McCauley saw a girl in a white coat who came along the alleyway between Abbey Park and Glenfada Park South. When she appeared, a third soldier came up between the two soldiers, knelt down and fired a shot. The shot hit the pavement about two feet in front of her. He did not see the bullet but saw the movement of the surface of the concrete. The girl got down on the ground and moved towards the dead man.
Mr McCauley helped to carry Gerard Donaghy into the living room. He stayed with Mr Donaghy the whole time that he was in the house. The only person to touch Mr Donaghy was the doctor who examined him.
5.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
5.2.1
Abbey Park
Mr Peter Clarke suggested that only one soldier emerged from the alleyway that leads from Glenfada Park North. Mr McCauley said that he had seen another soldier further back and a third soldier had come in between the two of them. The soldiers never actually got into a group together.
5.2.2
Gerard Donaghy
Mr McCauley said that Gerard Donaghy’s body was placed on the carpet. He did not remember whether or not the doctor unzipped Mr Donaghy’s trousers. Mr McCauley said that everything that Mr Donaghy was wearing was tight and there were no bunches. He does not believe that he overlooked anything in Mr Donaghy’s pockets.
6
PETER McLAUGHLIN’S EVIDENCE
Peter McLaughlin was 17 years old at the time of Bloody Sunday. He watched from the window of his flat in Block 2 of the Rossville Flats.
6.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
6.1.1
Rossville Flats car park
Mr McLaughlin looked out of the window down into the Rossville Flats car park. He said that he was not aware of soldiers in the Rossville Flats car park or of people running down Chamberlain Street. He was never aware of people making their way along the retaining wall.
Mr McLaughlin said that he saw a civilian gunman who was holding a handgun and was inching his way west to the southern end of the houses on Chamberlain Street. He particularly stood out because when Mr McLaughlin first saw him, there was a lull in the shooting. Mr McLaughlin cannot be sure whether his father was with him when he saw the gunman. There was a group of people sheltering in the fenced play area to the east of the gable end. The gunman was within 60 feet of this group of people.
As the gunman, reached the southwest corner of the gable end, he stretched his right arm around the corner and pointed the gun in a northerly direction up Chamberlain Street. The gunman fired 3 to 5 low velocity shots. He did not take aim before he fired. Mr McLaughlin said that he has no recollection of seeing anyone moving in Chamberlain Street at the time. He has no recollection of seeing any soldiers in Chamberlain Street.
Mr McLaughlin did not hear any other low velocity shots. He did not see anyone fall in the car park but his father told him that he had seen someone fall.
Mr McLaughlin said that the gunman was fairly young, in his early twenties.
Mr McLaughlin’s father put the civilian gunman at a different gable wall in Chamberlain Street. He said that the gunman was wearing a dark overcoat and was about 40 years old. He said that the gunman moved away from the entrance to Chamberlain Street and fired several shots towards the waste ground. The gunman did not seem to be aiming at anything. He saw the gunman approached by another man who took him by the lapels and banged him backwards towards the gable wall.
Mr McLaughlin said that he cannot be sure which gable wall he saw the gunman at. He agreed that it was possible that he had seen the same gunman as his father.
6.1.2
Patrick Doherty
Mr McLaughlin looked out of the living room window to Joseph Place. He saw four men running down the alleyway at the back of the Joseph Place houses.
Mr McLaughlin noticed a man who was crawling on his stomach in the same direction as the men had run. He said that his father later identified the man as Patrick Doherty. Mr McLaughlin said that Mr Doherty seemed to be dragging himself along the ground. Mr McLaughlin got the impression that he had been injured because he was moving slowly and dragging his leg. Mr Doherty was using his arms to move along. Mr McLaughlin could not remember whether Mr Doherty was using his legs.
Mr McLaughlin said that at the time he was confident that Mr Doherty had come from the alleyway between Blocks 2 and 3 of the Rossville Flats rather than from underneath the canopy. He said that people, including his father, shouted at Mr Doherty to stay under cover, but Mr Doherty did not stop.
Mr McLaughlin heard a single shot and saw a bullet hit the high retaining wall to the east of Block 2. Before that there had been general shooting but not in this area. The shot had been fired from the direction of Rossville Street in the area parallel with the telephone box and would have passed over Mr Doherty as he crawled. Mr McLaughlin was aware of the presence of a small group of soldiers in Rossville Street in an area parallel with the telephone box situated between Blocks 1 and 2. He could see at least one APC facing south and at least one soldier who was in a firing position at the entrance to Glenfada Park North beyond the rubble barricade. Mr McLaughlin said that the second shot hit Mr Doherty.
Mr McLaughlin said that most of his attention was drawn to Patrick Doherty. He would have, on occasions, glanced down to the area between Rossville Street and Glenfada Park. However he did not study what was going on in that area. Mr McLaughlin said that he did not see any bodies in the area of the telephone box or the gable end wall of Block 1 of the Rossville Flats.
Mr McLaughlin was shown the photographs which show an APC past the rubble barricade on Rossville Street. He was asked whether it was possible that he had confused the timing of events and seen the APC coming to collect the bodies after he had seen Patrick Doherty shot. He said that he saw a soldier on one knee and an APC in that area but cannot be certain about the timing.
Mr McLaughlin said that there were no further shots until a man crawled out to help Mr Doherty. Mr McLaughlin saw the man crawling out to Patrick Doherty from the Joseph Place alleyway. The man was trying to pull Mr Doherty towards the alleyway by his arms. Mr McLaughlin said that the man could not move Mr Doherty. The man got onto his knees and turned Mr Doherty on his back and tried to pull him by the collar. Distinct shots were then fired towards the man on his knees. He thought that shots were also fired from the direction of Rossville Street. The man who had tried to help Mr Doherty then went back to the shelter of the Joseph Place alleyway. After a few minutes, someone (possibly the same man) came back out again.
Mr McLaughlin said that there was a break of approximately 15 minutes before people went out to Mr Doherty.
6.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES AND WOUNDED
6.2.1
Patrick Doherty
Mr McLaughlin said that, at the time, he thought that Mr Doherty had come from the gap between Blocks 2 and 3 of the Rossville Flats. Mr McLaughlin’s flat was directly above the canopy. The canopy that ran along the southside of Block 2 did not extend the whole way up to the end of the flats.
Mr McLaughlin said that he recalls Mr Doherty coming out from his left. He caught sight of Mr Doherty when he was some distance out from the flats. He assumed that Mr Doherty had come from the gap because of his movement.
Ms MacDermott asked Mr McLaughlin about his 1972 statement. In that, Mr McLaughlin said that Mr Doherty had crawled towards Joseph Place from somewhere around the fish shop. He said that the fish shop would have been to his left.
Mr McLaughlin said that Mr Doherty was roughly a third of the distance between the Rossville Flats and the alleyway behind Joseph Place.
Ms MacDermott referred to Mr McLaughlin’s father’s evidence. He had said that he had the impression that Mr Doherty was crawling towards the Fahan Street steps and must have changed direction and began to crawl towards Joseph Place.
Mr McLaughlin said that Mr Doherty’s progress was painfully slow. He did not crawl in a straight line. He had the impression that Mr Doherty was very frightened and did not have a clear plan about which direction he was going to take and may have changed direction as he moved across. Mr Doherty did not follow a direct line to Joseph Place. He was definitely heading in the direction of the alleyway behind Joseph Place.
Mr McLaughlin did not see Mr Doherty coming out of the alleyway between Blocks 2 and 3. He had simply made the assumption that Mr Doherty had come from there.
Lord Saville suggested that if Mr Doherty had crawled from the gap between Blocks 2 and 3, he would have been across Mr McLaughlin’s line of vision. Mr McLaughlin said that Mr Doherty was crawling across his line of vision but he cannot be sure of the angle of Mr Doherty’s head and feet. He said it is more likely that Mr Doherty’s feet would have been closer to him than his head.
Mr McLaughlin agreed that it was possible that Mr Doherty had come from the gap between Blocks 2 and 3, crawled under the canopy and then moved out.
6.3
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
6.3.1
Civilian gunman
Mr McLaughlin said that he could not speculate about the intentions of the civilian gunman. He cannot comment on whether a lot of people saw the gunman. He was aware of people looking out of the windows of the Rossville Flats. He said that he got a general sense of disapproval from people in the play area and the flats.
Mr McLaughlin agreed that after Bloody Sunday, people were incensed about the media reporting that the soldiers had fired as gunmen. He said that the gunman he had seen was an isolated incident. Apart from this one gunman, he had not seen any gunmen, petrol bombs or nail bombs. He was already aware of shooting before he saw the gunman.
Mr McLaughlin did not refer to the gunman when he gave his statement in 1972. He was told that the statement was about the people he had seen shot on Bloody Sunday. He did not think it was a formal statement and fully expected to be called in front of Widgery.
Mr McLaughlin said that he could not comment on how many people had seen the gunman. He said that it was possible that very few actually saw the gunman.
6.3.2 South
of the Rossville Flats
Mr McLaughlin does not have a specific recollection of Mr Doherty’s feet pointing towards him. Mr McLaughlin put his head out of the window and could see into the entrance of the Glenfada Park car park. In 1972, he had associated the soldier he had seen kneeling at the APC with the shooting of Patrick Doherty. He said that he could no longer be confident about that association.
Mr Peter Clarke suggested that the soldier who can be seen in the photograph which shows the bonnet of the APC at the rubble barricade would not have remained in this position from the time that Patrick Doherty was shot.
6.4
FURTHER QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
6.4.1
Patrick Doherty
Mr McLaughlin said that he has no recollection of Mr Doherty being moved any significant distance by Mr Walsh. He said that Mr Doherty had crawled a couple of feet after he had been shot.
7
EDWARD DILLON’S EVIDENCE
7.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
7.1.1
Daniel McGowan
Mr Dillon was in the alleyway directly behind Joseph Place when he felt a man arrive just behind him. The man shouted that he had been shot. Mr Dillon said that he now knows the man to be Daniel McGowan. He believed that Mr McGowan was shot from the city walls. He was in the alleyway with him when he was shot. Mr Dillon did not see Patrick Campbell.
Mr Dillon was shown Daniel McGowan’s statement to the Widgery Inquiry. Mr McGowan said that he had been just above the Butcher’s shop at Joseph Place when he heard Patrick Campbell shout that he had been shot. Mr McGowan said that he ran over and caught Mr Campbell and helped him towards the back of the Joseph Place flats. Just as he pushed Mr Campbell round the corner of the back of the houses, Mr McGowan felt his right leg fold underneath him and realised that he had been shot. Mr McGowan said that he went unconscious, came to and dragged himself around the corner of the houses.
Mr Dillon agreed that this casts doubt on his recollection of Mr McGowan being shot from the city walls. He said that he thinks Mr McGowan was shot when he was next to him in the alleyway.
7.1.2
Patrick Doherty
Mr Dillon said that just as he was about to move Mr McGowan, he saw another man lying on the ground. The man was lying on his stomach with his feet towards the Fahan Street steps and his head pointing towards Joseph Place. He said that the man was crawling towards him and was shouting that he had been shot. He heard specific shots from the direction of the city walls.
Mr Dillon said that the man he now knows to be Patrick Doherty pressed himself on his hands and he could see blood on his shirt. Mr Doherty then collapsed. He could not tell which direction Mr Doherty had come from.
Mr Dillon heard shots from the walls and believed that Mr Doherty had been shot from the walls because of the direction of the sound of the shots. Mr Dillon saw blood on the left side of Mr Doherty’s chest. He could not say whether this was an exit or entrance wound. He accepted that it was possible that the bullet that hit Mr Doherty had been fired from Glenfada Park.
7.1.3
Columbs Wells
Mr Dillon said that he could not reach Mr Doherty because of the shooting. Instead, he and a young man escorted Mr McGowan away. As he came to the end of the first block of Joseph Place he saw a dark coloured car. He noticed people in the car but could not see whether they were wounded. Someone took Mr McGowan away into the car and he was driven in the direction of Lecky Road. He does not think that Mr McGowan was put into a car further down in the area of St Columbs Wells.
7.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES AND WOUNDED
7.2.1
Daniel McGowan
Mr Dillon was shown a photograph of Daniel McGowan attending to Hugh Gilmore near the telephone box at the south end of Block 1. Mr Harvey suggested that there must have been a considerable delay between Mr Dillon reaching the alley behind Joseph Place, because he had attended to both Hugh Gilmore and Patrick Campbell before hand. Mr Dillon agreed that he could have compressed a number of images.
Mr Dillon’s 1972 statement said that he was at the steps leading to Fahan Street when he first saw Daniel McGowan rather than in the alleyway. He said that he cannot now recall this.
Mr Dillon agreed that it is possible that Mr McGowan was taken the full length of the alleyway which runs behind both blocks of Joseph Place and was put into a car in the area of St Columbs Wells
7.2.2
Shooting
Mr Dillon said that when he heard shooting he believed that it was behind him. It was coming along Rossville Street. In his BSI statement, he said that the shooting was possibly coming from the roof of Blocks 1 and 2 of the Rossville Flats. Mr Dillon said that he had said that in response to a question. He cannot recall why he thought it would have been coming from that area because there was noise and echo in the area. He agreed that there was nothing which makes him think there is even a possibility that the shooting could have come from the flats.
7.2.3
Patrick Doherty
In his 1972 statement Mr Dillon said that Patrick Doherty was lying sheltering at the ‘square at the bottom of the steps.’ By this he meant the raised area, rather than the larger area in between the flats and Joseph Place. Mr Doherty was lying flat and it seemed that his hands were covering his head. There was nothing in Mr Doherty’s hands.
Mr Dillon agreed that he may be mistaken in thinking that Mr Doherty’s feet were towards the Fahan Street steps and his head was towards Joseph Place as he thinks that Mr Doherty was crawling towards him in the alleyway.
7.3
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
7.3.1
Shooting
Mr Dillon said that he heard shooting at about the same time that he first saw army vehicles. He was approaching the corner of Block 1 and 2 of the Rossville Flats. He believed the shooting was from the soldiers because of the noise of the shots.
7.3.2
Joseph Place
Mr Dillon said that he had seen a man shot in the region of the entrance to the alleyway in Joseph Place. He did not know Daniel McGowan’s name at the time. He has no recollection of Daniel McGowan helping another man who had just been shot.
He agreed that his recollection is of one man on his own being shot and then being helped on his own down the back of Joseph Place.
Mr Dillon said that he did not see anyone with a weapon at the bottom of the Fahan Street steps or the entrance to Blocks 2 and 3.
8
MICHAEL ROONEY’S EVIDENCE
Mr Rooney was 13 years old at the time of Bloody Sunday.
8.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
8.1.1
Barrier 14
Mr Rooney was with his friend John Duffy. He said that he and Mr Duffy threw a gas canister towards Barrier 14 at about 11:00am. Mr Duffy’s evidence was that they had thrown it at about midday. Mr Rooney agreed this was possible. He said that he is absolutely certain that they had not thrown the gas canister during the march.
Mr Rooney went on the march with his friends, including Noel Miller and John Duffy. They were a group of 13 and 14 year olds. He said that they wanted to give the British soldiers a good hiding. They were not carrying weapons, sticks or stones. The mood amongst the crowd was that they were untouchable. Mr Rooney did not see any groups of older teenagers or men who looked as though they were out for trouble.
Mr Rooney ran away from the water cannon, down Macari’s Lane.
8.1.2
Rossville Flats car park
Mr Rooney could see an APC in the Rossville Flats courtyard. There was a second APC coming south. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a girl fall. He just kept running.
Mr Rooney saw a man aged about 60 years old who challenged a soldier. The man had white hair and went into a boxing stance. Mr Rooney did not see anyone throwing any missiles at the soldiers from the car park.
8.1.3
Southside of the Rossville Flats
Mr Rooney went through the gap between Blocks 2 and 3. He approached the telephone box at the south of Block 1 and met Danny Murray who was holding a brush shaft. Mr Murray told him that he had whacked a para. Suddenly he heard the crack of an SLR and then a blather of shots. He took cover between the telephone box and the transformer building by Block 1.
At the same time as the shots, a group of 4 or 5 people came running around the corner of Block 1 and one collapsed on the ground. He fell in the position that Hugh Gilmore can be seen in the photograph of the scene at the south end of Block 1.
Mr Rooney was aware of a group of men discussing the fact that someone had been shot at the south side of Block 2. He did not see the body at which they were pointing. One of the men was Bernard McGuigan. Mr McGuigan’s body was turned facing the steps that lead to Fahan Street East. Mr Rooney heard two distinct bursts of shots and saw a body lying on the ground. He did not know that it was Bernard McGuigan.
Mr Rooney said that the next day he returned to the scene where Mr McGuigan was shot and found an eyelash on the wall. He also saw three bullet holes on the three-penny bits.
8.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES AND WOUNDED
8.2.1
South of the Rossville Flats
Mr Rooney said that he felt safe on the south side of Block 2 because it was on the other side of the rubble barricade. He thought that once he got to this point the soldiers would not be coming in.
8.3
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
8.3.1
CS gas canister
Mr Rooney said that the CS gas canister that he threw at Barrier 14 was still in working order. He said that it was the only gas canister that he had ever come across. It was just like a firework without a fuse.
Mr Rooney did not know whether it was common for CS gas canisters not to ignite properly.
8.3.2
Rossville Flats car park
Mr Rooney said that a soldier was clubbing people with an SLR as they went through the gap in the fencing at the entrance to the Rossville Flats car park. He had waited until the man with the white hair had come along from the car park to remonstrate.
Mr Rooney said that he had no idea if anyone came to the assistance of the soldier in the argument he had with the white haired man.
9
MARY MURRAY’S EVIDENCE
9.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
9.1.1
Joseph Place
Mrs Murray looked out of the window of 13 Joseph Place and could see people running past trying to shelter. An injured man was brought into the house. Mrs Murray heard that the man’s name was Michael Bridge. She agreed that it could have been Michael Bradley.
Mrs Murray went to the kitchen window that overlooked the back of Joseph Place. She saw two bright flashes.
Mrs Murray went back to the front of the house. She could see three bodies on the rubble barricade. The one in the middle was still moving. There was an Army jeep that was parked to the north of the rubble barricade. Mrs Murray saw soldiers putting the bodies into the vehicle. She said that the bodies were thrown into the vehicle like pigs being thrown in a van.
Mrs Murray has no recollection of seeing soldiers in the area around Glenfada Park.
10
HUGH KELLY’S EVIDENCE
10.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
10.1.1
Rossville Street
Mr Kelly said that he left Barrier 14 when it degenerated into a riot. He headed towards Free Derry Corner. Cathleen O’Donnell told him that when she got her sandal trapped in the rubble barricade near to Westland Street, he pulled her free. He vaguely remembers this.
10.1.2
Meenan Square/Bogside Inn
Mr Kelly sheltered on the footpath near to the Bogside Inn. He does not remember any cars coming down Westland Street or in the car park of the Bogside Inn. There were other people in the courtyard with him. He did not see any guns or anybody discussing the IRA.
Mr Kelly was lying prone on the ground. He became aware of shots going over his head. It seemed to be coming from the city walls, just next to Magazine Street Upper. He did not look at the walls. About 10 or 12 shots were fired. He agreed that it was possible that the shots had come from Rossville Street. His impression was that they were not from Rossville Street as there were buildings between him and the far side of the rubble barricade. The buildings were higher than the shots were.
Mr Kelly did not see any bullets hit the buildings or ground near to him. There was a lull in the firing and he walked into a small lane and tried to find a house to take shelter.
10.1.3
Mexx filling station
Mr Kelly said that when he reached home he heard further gunfire break out close to his home. This occurred about 25 or 30 minutes after the shooting by the Army in the Bogside. Mr Kelly thinks that there were about half a dozen single shots at the army post at roughly about 4:45pm.
Mr Kelly said that this had happened before on several occasions. Behind his house, there was a thick hedge which gave a good view of the army post on top of the Mexx filling station. He did not see the gunman/gunmen as the hedge was about 2 feet thick.
10.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
10.2.1
Meenan Square/Bogside Inn
Mr Kelly said that he was slightly up Westland Street from the Bogside Inn.
There was no shooting at or from the Bogside Inn. He had the impression that shots were going over his head. He said that they had to come from above rather than close to him. His honest impression at the time was that the shots could only have come from the walls.
11
DR RAYMOND McCLEAN’S EVIDENCE
11.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
11.1.2
History preceding Bloody Sunday
Dr McClean said that following the events of 5th October 1968, he became involved in the Derry Citizen’s Action Committee (DCAC).
The DCAC was a local civil rights organisation principally concerned with the housing situation in Derry and the change of the local government franchise.
Dr McClean said that the old Londonderry Corporation was disbanded in 1968 or 1969. For a while, there was the Londonderry Commission which was an appointed commission. Elected local government returned to Derry in 1973.
Following the events of August 1969 (Battle of the Bogside), the work of the DCAC had essentially come to an end. Dr McClean said that after the introduction of internment, people wanted to demonstrate. There was intense political debate going on in Derry in the City Hotel and various locations.
11.1.3 IRA
assurance
In November 1971, as a result of contacts with people, Dr McClean said that he knew that if there was an anti internment march in the city, the IRA would not intervene. Dr McClean asked Tommy O’Hara and Robert Loughery about the IRA because they had much better grass root connections than him. Dr McClean never asked with whom they made contact.
Dr McClean said that after he got this assurance, it was difficult to know how to organise the march because DCAC did not have the facilities. In the event, NICRA organised the march. Dr McClean did not play any part in organising the march.
Dr McClean thinks that the message about the IRA assurance would have percolated throughout the town.
11.1.4
Magilligan
Dr McClean was present at Magilligan. He was not at the front of the march but accepted that someone would have told the marchers not to proceed beyond a certain area. He said that some of those who were on the march began to remove the barrier.
11.1.5
Rocking Chair Bar
In the week between Magilligan and Bloody Sunday, Dr McClean became concerned about what was likely to happen. He and his two brothers in law went to the Rocking Chair Bar which was the source of local civil rights information. Dr McClean said that Magilligan had changed things and he wondered whether this had changed the IRA assurance. He said that the consensus in the Rocking Chair Bar was that there was no change.
Dr McClean left the bar feeling quite happy because he was aware that if he had received news of the IRA’s intentions, army intelligence must have done the same.
Dr McClean did not have any contact with members of or political representatives of either branch of the IRA about what they were going to do on the day. There was no formal meeting with the IRA.
In his book, ‘The Road to Bloody Sunday,’ Dr McClean wrote that the ‘Provisionals would stay away’ from the march. He had distinguished the Provisionals from the Officials. Tommy O’Hara and Robert Loughery would have had more contact with the Provisionals than the Officials. He would have expected that NICRA would have talked to the Official IRA.
11.1.6
William Street
Dr McClean was at the junction of Rossville Street and William Street when he heard four shots in fairly quick succession, coming from the western part of William Street. Someone ran to Dr McClean and told him that two people had been shot.
Dr McClean said that William Street was not full of people but there were several groups of people standing around and he had difficulty picking his way through the crowds. Dr McClean said that there was about a minute or two between him hearing the four shots and being asked to go to the wounded.
11.1.7
Columbcille Court
Dr McClean arrived at the Shiels’ house and treated Damien Donaghy and John Johnston. Damien Donaghy had a bullet wound on his right thigh. John Johnston had a wound in his leg and a peculiar wound in the shoulder which was shallow and appeared to be three holes joined together in a line.
Dr McClean said that his best understanding of Mr Johnston’s wounds is that he was hit by a ricochet. He said that the medical report prepared at the time by Mr Bennett did not make sense to him. He agreed that Mr Johnston’s wounds were superficial but said that the thigh wound was 1 to 2 centimetres from the femoral artery. Dr McClean said that if Mr Johnston’s femoral artery had been ruptured, he would not have made it to the hospital.
Whilst he was in the Shiels’ lounge, Dr McClean walked to the window as he was trying to decide what was the best way to get people to hospital. He heard about 4 or 5 bursts of gunfire with 3 or 4 shots in each of them. He felt that they were coming from the Glenfada Park area.
Dr McClean asked Father Carolan to take both the wounded men to hospital. Somebody came into the house and said that someone had been shot dead outside. Dr Kevin Swords came into the house and Dr McClean told him what he had just heard.
After a few minutes, Dr Swords came back and said that a man was dead. Dr McClean now knows the man to be Gerard Donaghy.
11.1.8
Abbey Park
Dr McClean walked slowly with a lot of people who were by now moving around in small groups. He came across the open space between Glenfada Park North and Abbey Park and saw a man lying on the shallow steps. Dr McClean was shown the photograph of Gerard McKinney. He said that when he was there, there was a smaller group of people around Mr McKinney’s body.
Dr McClean went inside 8 Abbey Park and saw Jim Wray and Michael Kelly. He was then called to 7 Abbey Park and saw William McKinney. There were no other wounded people in the houses. He did not see anyone other than Gerard McKinney who appeared to be wounded or killed in the Abbey Park area.
Dr McClean stayed with William McKinney until he died. He was hoping that an ambulance would come in time and spent his time going from one house to the other to support the people who were doing First Aid.
The first real indication Dr McClean got that things other than what had happened in the areas he had been in was when Father Mulvey told him that he had seen three bodies put into an APC.
11.1.9 Experts report on post mortem evidence
Dr McClean compiled a number of questions in relation to the injuries sustained by the dead and wounded which he wanted the BSI experts to address.
Mr Clarke told him that in a substantial number of cases, the BSI experts have agreed with the conclusions he reached.
11.1.10 Post
mortem examinations
Dr McClean attended all, except the first two post mortems. He spent 12 hours on the day following Bloody Sunday at the post mortems. During that day, he did not hear any suggestion that one of the deceased had four nail bombs on his person.
Dr McClean saw the bullet that was removed from the body of Michael Kelly during the post mortem. He said that there was no significant damage to the bullet that he could see.
Dr McClean noted the similarity of the trajectory lines through the bodies of William Nash, Michael McDaid and John Young.
Dr McClean said that pathology must be correlated to significant eyewitness accounts in order to get the true story. The forensic pathology in James Wray’s case supports several eyewitness accounts of Mr Wray telling people that he could not move his legs as he lay on the ground. Dr McClean said that he had concluded that the first bullet which hit Mr Wray created the lower wound. It could have created shock waves sufficient to have caused temporary paralysis of both legs.
11.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES AND WOUNDED
11.2.1
Abbey Park
Dr McClean heard shots whilst he was in the house at Abbey Park examining William McKinney. He said that it was about 20 minutes after he had heard the shots whilst he was in the Shiels’ house.
11.2.2
James Wray
Dr McClean said that he is not an expert in forensic pathology but suggested that a high velocity bullet travelling close to the spine could well cause temporary paralysis. He said that it was something that James Wray could have recovered from.
11.3
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
11.3.1 IRA
assurance
There was no formal meeting between Dr McClean and the IRA. The meetings were informal. Some kind of assurance had been given to him that the Provisional IRA would not be aggressively present on the march. Dr McClean agreed that it was very important to everybody that an assurance had been given.
Dr McClean said that he had not admitted the assurance in his Widgery statement on purpose. At the time, it did not seem important to him. He agreed that he had not referred to any meetings with the IRA in his 1972 handwritten statement.
Dr McClean said that he expected NICRA to approach the Official IRA or its representatives. He did not realise that there were links between the Official IRA and NICRA. There was quite a strong left wing socialist group in Derry at the time. Common rumour was that they had close links with the Official IRA. He did not approach them because his impression was that those people considered him to be a middle of the road person who was invading their political territory.
Dr McClean said that he would expect some IRA people would be present at the march. He did not ask for an undertaking that they would not be present. He understood that the IRA would not use the occasion of the march to open fire on the soldiers.
11.3.2
Internees Dependants Fund (IDF)
Dr McClean was the Vice Chairman of the IDF. He was asked about the evidence of Willie O’Connell. Mr O’Connell said that the IDF had set up two listening stations in houses in the area to listen to army and police radios. Dr McClean said that he never knew about this.
11.3.3
Barrier 14
Dr McClean said that he expected there would be some form of rioting but he did not expect anything more than the normal rioting frequent on a Saturday afternoon.
Dr McClean said that he did not go to Barrier 14. The Sunday Times note which said ‘our intention was to go to the barricade at William Street’ is not accurate. Dr McClean’s intention was always to go to Free Derry Corner.
11.3.4
William Street
Dr McClean said that he heard four shots, two in rapid succession, a pause of about two seconds and then more.
11.3.5
Columbcille Court
Dr McClean did not hear any shots that appeared to come from the Shiels’ house or from very close to it.
11.3.6
Abbey Park
Dr McClean said that when he got to the houses in Abbey Park, Michael Kelly and James Wray were already dead. He concentrated on William McKinney in 7 Abbey Park. Dr McClean went back to number 8 to support the first aid workers who were there. He told the first aiders to continue the resuscitation because he wanted to keep them occupied.
Dr McClean said that he is certain that there was no other injured person in the house where Michael Kelly and James Wray were. He spent the majority of the time with William McKinney.
11.3.7 ‘The Road
to Bloody Sunday’
Dr McClean was questioned about a series of passages taken from his book, ‘The Road to Bloody Sunday.’
Dr McClean was asked about an incident which occurred during his days in the RAF. He had treated officers who had been hurt in fights and when questioned by investigating officers had told them that nobody had been hurt. This was to protect his patients.
Dr McClean said that on one occasion he had driven a patient to Letterkenny rather than Altnagelvin hospital. The patient had been hit in the face by a rubber bullet and was afraid that he would be arrested if he went to Altnagelvin. His medical welfare was the prime interest. Dr McClean could not leave him where he was and the patient refused to go to Altnagelvin.
Dr McClean had written about the Battle of the Bogside. He wrote that most of the serious casualties refused to go to Altnagelvin for fear of arrest. Dr McClean cannot remember any other occasion between the Battle of the Bogside and 1970 when he drove to Letterkenny. He knew of no transportation of any wounded to Letterkenny on Bloody Sunday and said that he did not think it would be possible on that day.
Dr McClean said that he was not a supporter of violence against the authorities. He had contributed to a collection for the people of the Bogside to defend their area. He said that the considered opinion of the majority of people in the Bogside at the time of the Battle of the Bogside was that the people who threw petrol bombs from the roof of the Rossville Flats were the real heroes of the day.
Dr McClean gave evidence to the Scarman Inquiry about the bullet that he had removed from Gerry McDaid. Dr McClean had taken the bullet across the border for examination by the Irish Army before giving it to the Scarman Inquiry. He said that at the time there was a distinct lack of trust. Mr Glasgow suggested that Dr McClean had been less than candid with Lord Scarman and asked him if he had the same attitude towards the BSI. Dr McClean said that this was not correct.
Dr McClean said that he did his best to be very candid with the Himsworth Inquiry into CS gas. He said that he had not misled Sir Harold Himsworth in saying that he had trained with Professor Zap, a world authority on toxicology.
Dr McClean said at the time that he wrote his book, there was nothing more than a rumour about shots fired by civilians. His impression at the time was that there had been no shooting by civilians.
11.3.8 Post mortems
Dr McClean said that he received a call from Cardinal Conway to attend the post mortem examinations as a representative of the Church. He was present from the third examination to the end. He missed Gerard Donaghy and Michael McDaid’s post mortems because by the time he reached the hospital they had already been completed.
Dr McDermott was already at the hospital when Dr McClean arrived. He did not talk to Dr McDermott because it was busy. He does not recall Dr McDermott making notes.
Dr McClean said that he was surprised at the damage high velocity bullets could cause. He had not examined wounds caused by high velocity bullets before.
11.3.9
Dr McClean’s report on the post mortem evidence
Dr McClean said that, in compiling his report on the post mortem evidence, he did not think it was relevant to tell people that it was the first occasion he had seen damage caused by high velocity bullets. He said that he had already stated to the Tribunal that he based all his knowledge and suggestions on a good knowledge of anatomy and common sense. He was not setting himself up as an expert.
Dr McClean examined the only bullet available from the post mortems and concluded that it had not been tampered with.
Dr McClean said that forensic pathology needs to be allied to eyewitness accounts. The evidence as to the direction in which the individuals were facing when they were shot, if an entry and exit wound was established, would be a key point.
In his report, Dr McClean said that John Young could not have been shot by soldiers in Rossville Street.
Dr McClean agreed that the distance from the rubble barricade to the city walls was about 180 yards. He accepted that to fire a bullet at a person standing at the rubble barricade at an angle of 45 degrees, the gunman would have to be at a position that was six times the height of the Rossville Flats. Dr McClean said that he did nit think that anyone would have been in a standing position at the rubble barricade.
Dr McClean accepted that to try and project the trajectory of the bullet through a body is extremely difficult. He said that he raised the question about the track of the wounds in the case of the three rubble barricade casualties with the BSI experts.
Dr McClean accepted that there is nothing in the pathology that lends greater weight to a shot coming from the walls or from street level.
11.3.10
First Aid Posts
Dr McClean said that to his knowledge there were no First Aid Posts set up on Bloody Sunday. He had no formal role with the Knights of Malta. He knew very little about the Order of Lazarus.
11.4
FURTHER QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
11.4.1
Remember Bloody Sunday
Dr McClean was interviewed by Peter Taylor for the documentary ‘Remember Bloody Sunday.’ He said that he had asked Tommy O’Hara and Robert Loughery to use their influence to see if there could be a demonstration.
11.4.2
Dumdum bullets
Dr McClean said that his understanding was that normal entry wounds should be no more than 7 to 8 millimetres in diameter. Dr McClean asked the BSI experts to examine the six cases were the entry wounds were larger than this.
Mr Clarke told Dr McClean that the BSI experts have concluded that the bullet that shot Bernard McGuigan was either a substandard NATO bullet or one deliberately weakened to enhance its potential for fragmentation. The experts also concluded that the bullet that hit Michael Kelly was unstable.
12
NOEL McCLOONE’S EVIDENCE
Noel McCloone attended the march in his capacity as a Knight of Malta volunteer.
12.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
12.1.1
William Street
Mr McCloone saw soldiers on the roof of the sorting office in William Street. He stood at the corner of William Street and Rossville Street for about 10 minutes while most of the march went past him.
There were a couple of hundred people who wanted to go to the Guildhall. Mr McCloone saw about a dozen people throwing stones at the Army and the Army throwing them back at the crowd. Other people were just chanting songs. He heard the bang of CS gas canisters and saw clouds of gas in the air.
Mr McCloone put his gas mask on and went to the corner of Con Bradley’s pub. He saw two casualties who had collapsed from the effects of the CS gas and escorted them together with Jim Norris to the Rossville Flats.
Mr McCloone returned to the area around Con Bradley’s pub and saw a man who had been hit in the mouth or nose with either a rubber bullet or CS gas canister. Mr McCloone and Mr Norris cleaned the man up and took him to Block 1 of the Rossville Flats.
12.1.2
Rossville Flats car park
Mr McCloone went off to find medical help for the man. The soldiers and army vehicles had not arrived at that stage. As he walked around the southwest corner of Block 1, Mr McCloone heard a rifle shot followed by another shot, and then more shots coming from the direction of William Street. He heard a shout for help and saw Michael Bradley being carried through the gap between Blocks 2 and 3. Mr McCloone helped to carry Mr Bradley into 13 Joseph Place.
In his 1972 statement, Mr McCloone said that he saw the Army enter before he was called to attend to Michael Bradley. He said that he waited at the corner of Block 1 for a minute or two before seeing Mr Bradley being carried through the gap.
12.1.3
Joseph Place
Mr McCloone left the house and saw an APC to the north of the rubble barricade and another APC and two soldiers in Glenfada Park North. He cannot remember whether he saw the APCs before or after he saw 3 to 5 people lying to the south of the rubble barricade. In his 1972 statement, he said that he had seen three people lying severely wounded at the rubble barricade.
Mr McCloone walked to the southside of Block 2. He was trying to get to the rubble barricade. He saw a man walking about three yards in front of him. Mr McCloone saw a soldier appear at the southwestern corner of Block 1. The soldier lifted his rifle and aimed in Mr McCloone’s direction. Mr McCloone said that the man in front of him put his hands up in the air. Mr McCloone ducked and heard a very loud bang. He heard the man in front of him fall. He looked up and saw the man lying on his back with his head towards the south end of Block 1. There was more shooting. After a couple of minutes, Mr McCloone reached over to the man to check his pulse and found none. He later learned that the man was Bernard McGuigan.
Mr McCloone said that the soldiers had been standing very close to the corner of Block 1 of the Rossville Flats. He had appeared there momentarily and when he lifted his head again the soldier had gone. Mr McCloone cannot remember whether the body of Hugh Gilmore was there when he had seen the soldier standing at the corner.
Immediately before Mr McGuigan had been shot, Mr McCloone thinks that there were soldiers in the area of Glenfada Park.
12.1.4
Casualties
Mr McCloone went back to 12 Joseph Place. He attended to a man with a gunshot wound in his arm who he later found out was Alexander Nash. He remembers another man with a big hole the size of a fist in his back. He agreed that the photograph of Patrick McDaid’s wound was similar. There was another injured man in the house who had a gash on his upper left leg. The man had already been treated. As far as Mr McCloone knew the man had not been injured by a bullet.
Mr McCloone went back up to the first house where he had earlier attended to Michael Bradley. He said that there were several other minor casualties in that house, mostly people with hysterics.
In his 1972 statement, Mr McCloone wrote that he treated five people for gunshot wounds. He said that he was counting the people outside the house as well (Bernard McGuigan and Hugh Gilmore).
12.1.5
Keville tape
Mr McCloone identified his voice on the tape recording. He has a vague memory of being interviewed about 20 minutes after the events of Bloody Sunday.
Mr McCloone said that the interview would not be an accurate recording of what happened on the day. At the time that the microphone was put into his face, he was distraught and shaking.
In the transcript of the recording, Mr McCloone said that he saw two people shot just before Mr McGuigan fell. Mr McCloone said that he was probably trying to describe what other people had seen and he had not actually seen this. He had seen the shooting of Bernard McGuigan.
12.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES AND WOUNDED
12.2.1
Bernard McGuigan
Mr McCloone said that when Mr McGuigan moved out in front of him, he did not have a weapon in his hands. He does not recall Mr McGuigan holding a handkerchief in his left hand.
Mr McCloone said that he saw the soldier appear at the southwest corner of Block 1 for half a second. Mr Coyle suggested that the soldier was further across Rossville Street, closer to Glenfada Park. Mr McCloone said that there could have been a soldier there. The soldier must have been at the corner for only a few seconds because when Mr McCloone lifted his head, he had gone. The soldier was standing.
In his 1972 statement, Mr McCloone said that the soldier was about 12 yards away from Mr McGuigan when he shot him. This would be further than the corner of Rossville Flats.
12.3
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
12.3.1
Bernard McGuigan
Mr McCloone was behind Bernard McGuigan when the soldier appeared. He agreed that the soldier that can be seen in one of the photographs would have been a distance of 12 yards away.
13
PAUL McLAUGHLIN’S EVIDENCE
13.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
13.1.1
Knights of Malta
Mr McLaughlin was a member of the Knights of Malta. He does not know whether he was specifically asked to attend the march or whether he simply decided to go on his own accord. He said it was a voluntary organisation and if someone had work commitments they would not attend an event. He said that he would never be exactly sure how many people would have turned up at a particular event.
Mr McLaughlin said that first aid posts were not normally set up in advance. They were normally set up as a situation developed. There was a number of first aid posts used throughout the period, but he does not recollect a specific post being appointed on that day.
13.1.2
William Street
Mr McLaughlin was with Johnny Lafferty who was a senior member of the Order of Malta. He heard shooting that he thought came from the direction of the derelict building. He and Mr Lafferty were trying to get people away from the gas.
13.1.3
Rossville Street
Mr McLaughlin crossed from the gable end of Glenfada Park North to the Rossville Flats because he was told that there was an injured person there. He ran along the rubble barricade and tried to stay close to it. Mr McLaughlin was aware of hearing shooting in the area, although he was not sure where it was coming from. He said that the shooting was continuous and steady.
Mr McLaughlin crossed the rubble barricade because he thought that he would be highly identifiable as a first aider because of his uniform. There was a lot of people running and a lot of commotion and anxiety.
As he walked across the rubble barricade, he heard a loud bang close to his head. It was definitely not the sound of a nail bomb but it sounded louder than the noise of a gun being fired. He said that he now believes it was a bullet passing very close to his ear.
Mr McLaughlin did not see any civilian with any type of gun or nail bombs on Bloody Sunday. The only time he had seen civilians with guns was when the checkpoints were manned.
As he crossed Rossville Street, there seemed to be quite a few people in the area of the rubble barricade. He cannot recall anyone on the ground at the rubble barricade and said that if there had been someone there who was injured, he would have stopped to treat them.
13.1.4
South of Block 1
Mr McLaughlin reached a young man whom he later knew to be Hugh Gilmore. There was a girl kneeling beside him. Mr McLaughlin only had a short period of time to look at Mr Gilmore. He said that the firing became so intense that it was not possible to stay with Mr Gilmore any longer.
Mr McLaughlin could not identify where the shooting was coming from. He said that it appeared to be coming from anywhere.
The girl who had been with Mr Gilmore became hysterical and Mr McLaughlin had to slap her. He cannot recall whether it was after Mr McGuigan was shot that the girl became hysterical.
Mr McLaughlin can be seen in the photographs at the scenes at the gable end of Block 1. He said that he could see bullets flying off the face of the three-penny bits. He recalls being aware of soldiers in the Glenfada Park area.
Mr McLaughlin became aware of a man who was lying wounded somewhere to the southeast between the shops and Joseph Place.
Mr McLaughlin remembers seeing a man he later found out was called Bernard McGuigan, walk out from the group as if to assist the man. He does not specifically remember anyone calling out for help. He assumed that Mr McGuigan was going out to help the man because of the direction that he was moving. The shooting at this time was still intense and before Mr McGuigan had gone more than five steps, he fell to the ground. Mr McLaughlin did not see Mr McGuigan shot, he just remembers seeing him fall.
13.2
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE FAMILIES AND WOUNDED
13.2.1
Patrick Doherty
Mr McLaughlin was asked about the evidence of another Knight of Malta, Alice Long. Ms Long said that she and Mr McLaughlin had gone to attend to Mr Doherty. Mr McLaughlin has no recollection of this.
13.2.2
Bernard McGuigan
Mr McLaughlin said that people had huddled very close to one another at the telephone box. He said that the photograph of the people around the telephone box after Mr McGuigan was shot shows that they were in a frightened, not an aggressive position. He said that the group was in roughly the same position before Mr McGuigan was shot.
Mr McLaughlin said that Mr McGuigan had moved roughly about five paces when he was shot. He had walked at a normal pace.
13.3
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE SOLDIERS
13.3.1
William Street
In his statement, Mr McLaughlin wrote about the shots he heard on William Street ‘I am sure it was brief and not a sustained gunfight.’ He said that he does not recall the specific details of that shooting.
13.3.2
Bernard McGuigan
Mr McLaughlin was not told after Bloody Sunday that Mr McGuigan was going to help someone when he was shot.
14
ANTHONY MARTIN’S EVIDENCE
Mr Martin was a committee member of the Derry branch of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association.
14.1
QUESTIONS ON BEHALF OF THE TRIBUNAL
14.1.1
Organising the march
Mr Martin said that at the time of Bloody Sunday, he was on the committee and was one of the two press officers for the Derry CRA.
Mr Martin was shown the minutes of a meeting held by the NICRA executive in Belfast. He agreed that it was probably right that the request for the march had come from Derry CRA.
In Derry, the principal organisers of the march were Brigid Bond and her husband, Charlie Morrison and his wife, Mickey Dury, Eamonn Melaugh and a lady from Manchester. Kevin McCorry was in charge of the stewarding.
Mr Martin identified himself in a photograph of the march. He was carrying a walkie-talkie.
14.1.2 IRA
assurance
Mr Martin said that it was an important part of planning the march to let local people know that it was going to be a peaceful march. Brigid Bond assured the Derry CRA that she had received an assurance from the IRA that there would be no IRA flags or guns. They did say that they would have observers present at the march.
Mr Martin said that an assurance that came from the IRA would have been on a one to one basis.
Mr Martin said that he had also contacted people. Malachy McGurran was the political person from the Official IRA who gave the CRA committee the assurance that there would be no involvement by the Official IRA. Mr McGurran told Mr Martin that he had given the assurance to Brigid Bond. He understood Mr McGurran to be the Officer Commanding the Official IRA. Reg Tester gave Mr Martin his assurance that all the IRA guns had been put away. Mr Martin could not be sure how soon before Bloody Sunday, the assurances had been given.
Mr Martin said that one of his neighbours had told him that the Provisionals were not going to be at the march with guns. The neighbour was not a member of the military wing. Mr Martin said that he was most likely a member by association.
Mr Martin said that different people from the committee of the Derry CRA were talking to different persons who had knowledge of both Provisional and Official IRA to come to an agreement that the march would go ahead and they would not see any weapons.
Mr Martin did not know whether anyone approached Martin McGuinness.
Mr Martin said that the IRA would have observers on the march to help with the stewarding. They would be helpful if young people became troublesome. They would also report back on a situation if anyone was attacked. He said that they were a defensive group and would have been observing the area. He said that it was a possibility that sidearms may have been carried by certain members of both IRAs for personal protection. He said that sidearms were not a weapon that a person could use to attack a military force with.
Mr Martin heard a telephone conversation between Brigid Bond and Frank Lagan where Mrs Bond told Mr Lagan about the IRA assurance.
14.1.3
IRA cars
Mr Martin said that it was standard practice for both wings of the IRA to keep guns in cars dotted around the city. This was to avoid them being seized in house raids. He does not know where the cars would have been kept.
14.1.4
Stewards
Mr Martin was a steward and had the role of having a walkie-talkie. He thinks he could have asked members of the ex-servicemen’s group to act as stewards as well.
Mr Martin said that there probably would have been someone, who before the march began, made some guess as to the number of stewards that would be needed and went about asking people to be stewards. He cannot recall who it was. He said that stewards would be picked up as the march proceeded.
Arthur Palmer’s role was to drive ahead of the march on the outskirts of the route and let him know where the Army had set out the barricades. Then Mr Martin would tell the lorry at the head of the march where to go. Mr Palmer would contact Mr Martin by walkie-talkie. Mr Martin would be near to the lorry.
14.1.5
Route
When the march set off from Bishop’s Field, the intention was that it should go down Great James Street. This changed during the course of the march when Arthur Palmer found out that there were barriers leading into Great James Street.
Mr Martin said that when they saw that the road was blocked, they did a detour. The lorry turned down Rossville Street and the bulk of the march followed but quite a few people ran on towards the east end of William Street. Mr Martin said that all the decisions in respect of the route/detours were made at the last moment.
14.1.6
Kells Walk/Columbcille Court
Mr Martin went with Peter Lancaster to Kells Walk. He heard 2 shots behind him when he was facing Free Derry Corner. He cleared the people off the Kells Walk balcony and told them to get under cover because he thought that the firing was coming into Kells Walk.
Mr Martin heard the sound of a .303 shot which was directed from south to north. He saw a melee in Columbcille Court taking place in front of a slatted area where people dried their clothes.
Mr Martin said that he later learned that the melee was people arguing with an Official IRA gunman. Mr Martin did not see a weapon at all in the vicinity. In the Sunday Times notes, Mr Martin said that he had seen Provos trying to disarm the gunman. He said that he recognised the people trying to disarm the man from the checkpoints and roadblocks in the Free Derry area.
Mr Martin was asked about the evidence of Theresa Bradley who had seen a gunman fire a handgun several times from the balcony of Kells Walk. Mr Martin said that he did not see this.
14.1.7
Rossville Street
Mr Martin said that he and Peter Lancaster walked towards the rubble barricade on Rossville Street. People were running across the waste ground. As he approached the rubble barricade, he heard the distinctive whine of the APCs. He ran to the rubble barricade and helped people over it.
Shortly afterwards, Mr Martin saw two girls, holding each other in Rossville Street, crying hysterically. Mr Martin took them behind a lamppost for protection. He said that the pebbles around him exploded as bullets hit the ground. He thought that the shots were coming from the city walls.
14.1.8
Abbey Park/Glenfada Park North
Mr Martin ran with the two girls to Lisfannon Park. He made his way towards Abbey Park and saw two Knights of Malta attending to a man who he later learnt was Gerard McKinney.
Mr Martin went into Glenfada Park North and helped to carry William McKinney into a house