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Sunday 30 January 1972 is remembered as one of the most deadly – and significant – dates throughout thirty years of unrest in Northern Ireland.

In the streets where events unfolded – the images of that fateful day are visible on the buildings and embedded in collective memory.

A protest demonstration was held on a cold but bright afternoon in Derry.

The protest was opposing the practice of internment – detaining individuals without due process – which had been put in place after three years of conflict.

Soldiers from the specialized division killed thirteen individuals in the Bogside area – which was, and remains, a overwhelmingly nationalist community.

A specific visual became notably memorable.

Pictures showed a clergyman, Father Daly, displaying a bloodied white handkerchief in his effort to defend a assembly carrying a teenager, the fatally wounded individual, who had been mortally injured.

News camera operators recorded considerable film on the day.

Documented accounts includes Fr Daly informing a journalist that military personnel "just seemed to shoot indiscriminately" and he was "completely sure" that there was no justification for the discharge of weapons.

This account of the incident wasn't accepted by the first inquiry.

The initial inquiry determined the soldiers had been fired upon initially.

During the negotiation period, Tony Blair's government commissioned another inquiry, in response to advocacy by family members, who said the first investigation had been a inadequate investigation.

In 2010, the findings by the investigation said that on balance, the military personnel had fired first and that zero among the victims had been armed.

The contemporary government leader, the Prime Minister, issued an apology in the House of Commons – declaring deaths were "improper and unacceptable."

Law enforcement commenced investigate the events.

One former paratrooper, identified as the defendant, was brought to trial for killing.

He was charged over the deaths of one victim, 22, and in his mid-twenties the second individual.

Soldier F was additionally charged of seeking to harm Patrick O'Donnell, other civilians, further individuals, another person, and an unnamed civilian.

There is a court ruling maintaining the veteran's privacy, which his lawyers have argued is essential because he is at danger.

He told the investigation that he had only fired at individuals who were armed.

That claim was rejected in the official findings.

Material from the inquiry could not be used directly as evidence in the criminal process.

During the trial, the accused was shielded from sight behind a privacy screen.

He made statements for the first time in the hearing at a proceeding in December 2024, to respond "innocent" when the accusations were read.

Relatives of the victims on the incident journeyed from Londonderry to the judicial building each day of the trial.

A family member, whose brother Michael was fatally wounded, said they always knew that listening to the proceedings would be emotional.

"I can see the events in my memory," the relative said, as we walked around the primary sites referenced in the case – from the street, where the victim was killed, to the adjoining Glenfada Park, where James Wray and William McKinney were fatally wounded.

"It reminds me to where I was that day.

"I assisted with the victim and place him in the vehicle.

"I experienced again each detail during the evidence.

"Despite having to go through all that – it's still valuable for me."