Soldier accused of 'wilful blindness' over Bloody Sunday
A soldier was accused today of suffering from “wilful blindness” when he claimed he did not see a number of people killed in Derry on Bloody Sunday.
Arthur Harvey QC, representing most of the families of the dead and wounded, put it to Soldier 017 that he must have seen more than he claimed to on January 30, 1972 when 13 civil rights marchers were shot dead by soldiers. A 14th man died later.
The former private in Mortar Platoon of the Parachute Regiment said he only saw one man shot near a rubble barrier on Rossville Street, at which five people were killed.
Mr Harvey said: “I suggest to you what you suffer from is wilful blindness.
“You have made a determined effort to see nothing in relation to the deaths you must have witnessed of at least five people at that barricade and the movements of Anti-Tank Platoon into Glenfada Park where they carried out four further murders and you claim to have really seen nothing of what went on?”
“Correct,” replied the soldier. Soldier 017 said he saw Soldier P shoot a nail bomber near the rubble barricade, despite the fact that Soldier P said he shot the man in a different location, as he emerged from an alley.
The former soldier claimed Soldier P shouted a warning to him about a bomber as they approached a crowd near the rubble barricade.
“I saw someone crouched down with a dark object in his hand, which I took to be a nail bomb,” he said.
“He had his arm back as if he was ready to throw. I couldn’t now give a description of the man.
“I heard a shot. I did not actually see the man struck by the bullet but I saw him spin to his right and go down. I don’t know if he fell on his back or on his face.
“Within seconds, he was engulfed by the crowd and that was the last I saw of him. When the crowd went back he had gone.
“The device did not go off. I was waiting for a bang but there was nothing.”
Mr Harvey put it to the former paratrooper that he made a second statement to the Royal Military Police in an attempt to corroborate Soldier P’s account of shooting a nail bomber.
But Soldier 013 rejected this. He said: “We did not, we did not make it up or get together.” Mr Harvey said Soldier P gave a “totally contradictory” account of shooting a nail bomber to that given by Soldier 017.
He asked: “Could you have got the position of the nail bomber wrong?” “No,” he replied.
Mr Harvey asked: “Do you have any explanation how Corporal P could have got the position of the nail bomber wrong, considering the fact that he is claiming to have shot a fellow human being dead?” “No,” the soldier replied.
Mr Harvey asked: “You do see that it is an irreconcilable difference between you, one or other of you must be wrong, both of you cannot be right, is that not so?” “Yes,” he replied.
Soldier 017 said he believed he came under fire from a civilian gunman armed with a pistol when he ran towards an alley leading to Columbcille Court in order to arrest a rioter after witnessing the shooting.
“As I ran forward, the youths doubled back and ran away and I saw a man with a pistol come around the corner, from the north east corner of Glenfada Park North, into the alleyway towards me,” he said.
“The gunman was about 20 to 30 yards from me. I don’t remember which hand his gun was in, but I could see that it was a pistol.
“He was pointing it in my direction. I fired a rubber bullet at him and he shied away. I then ran round the corner, back into Rossville Street and called P.
“I can’t be certain, as I did so, whether or not the man with the pistol fired at me, but I think he did.” Soldier 017 was the 788th witness to appear before the Saville Inquiry.
The inquiry, which usually sits at the Guildhall in Derry, is currently hearing the evidence of military witnesses and others in London because of concerns for their safety.
Lord Saville of Newdigate and the Commonwealth judges accompanying him on the Bloody Sunday inquiry began their work nearly four years ago and are not expected to report back until 2004.
