Bloody Sunday: Judgement reserved in high court case
- Published
Thirteen people were killed and 15 wounded on Bloody Sunday
Judgement has been reserved in a legal challenge brought by relatives of seven of the victims of Bloody Sunday.
The families are seeking to judicially review decisions meaning five ex-paratroopers will not face trial.
Belfast High Court has heard soldiers were compelled to give statements in violation of their right of protection from self-incrimination.
Thirteen people were killed when soldiers opened fire on civil rights demonstrators in the city.
In 2010 the Saville Inquiry into the events on Bloody Sunday established the innocence of all of those who died.
Lawyers for some of the ex-paratroopers insisted their accounts to senior officers about the killings in Derry in 1972 were involuntary and legally inadmissible as evidence.
Charges dropped
Judges were told they were not properly cautioned, and faced a potential court-martial and imprisonment for non-compliance.
On Thursday, judgement was reserved in the judicial review following a four-day hearing in Belfast.
In July the Public Prosecution Service announced it was dropping charges against Soldier F for the murders of William McKinney, 26, and James Wray, 22, plus five counts of attempted murder.
The case against him was reviewed after criminal proceedings against two other military veterans for Troubles-era offences collapsed in Belfast earlier this year.
The PPS is also being challenged for not charging former paratroopers with the murders of Mr McKinney, Jackie Duddy, 17, Michael Kelly, 17, John Young, 17, Michael McDaid, 20, and 41-year-old father-of-six Bernard McGuigan.
Following closing submissions on Thursday, Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan said she would give a decision as soon as possible.