Former soldier fails to show up at Saville Inquiry
A former British soldier involved in the Bloody Sunday operation in Derry 31 years ago is facing the possibility of a prison sentence after failing to show up at the Saville Inquiry today.
The unnamed paratrooper, identified only as Soldier L, had been served with a subpoena ordering him to appear before the inquiry later today. The subpoena was served after a lawyer told the inquiry that she believed Soldier L was unwilling to attend.
Tribunal chairman Lord Saville had warned the soldier that he had weeks to prepare for his evidence and would face serious consequences if he failed to show up.
Soldier L was expected to tell the inquiry that he witnessed another soldier standing over a man and repeatedly shooting him on Bloody Sunday, when 13 Catholic civil rights marchers were shot dead by the British army.
He was also expected to claim that he saw Bishop Edward Daly hiding two rifles inside his cassock on the day.
In his statement to the Saville Inquiry, Soldier L said he wanted to "take" Martin McGuinness dead or alive during the British army operation in Derry on January 30, 1972.
Mr McGuinness has admitted that he was second-in-command of the IRA in Derry at the time.
Soldier L also claimed that he found plastic explosives at the rubble barricade on Rossville Street on Bloody Sunday and that he saw two gunmen at the barricade on the day.
