Soldier F PI: Prosecution argues statements of deceased Bloody Sunday witnesses should be admitted

Prosecution counsel in the case of the only British soldier charged in connection with the Bloody Sunday killings in January 1972 has told a preliminary inquiry that statements by civilian witnesses who are deceased should be admissable as evidence. 

Soldier F who  is charged with the murder of Jim Wray and William McKinney on January 30 1972 and five attempted murders of others involved in the civil rights march is facing the final stages of a preliminary inquiry to decide if he will be returned for trial. 

Today the prosecution argued that the statements of those deceased witnesses should be admitted and their 'reliability and fairness' assessed by the trial judge. 

He said that there was some 'fundamental' issues such as the fact that British soldiers entered Glenfada Park and fired shots. 

Citing the case of Patrick O'Donnell who was shot and wounded on Bloody Sunday and is now deceased the prosecution barrister said that his evidence 'was fundamentally consistent with other civilian and military statements.'

He said that the argument that people could not be cross examined was simply the nature of hearsay evidence. 

The prosecution said that they would be seeking other hearsay statements regarding the aftermath of the shootings and the pathology reports. 

Defence counsel for Soldier F Mark Mulholland KC argued that a lot of the statements were unreliable. 

He cited one witness in particular who he said in a 1972 statement he talked of seeing 'three boys shot at the rubble barricade' but in his statement to the Saville Inquiry talked of one person being shot there. 

Mr Mulholland said this was a problem with admitting hearsay statements. 

The hearing continues. 

District Judge Ted Magill who is dealing with the PI has indicated he wants it concluded this week.