Bloody Sunday: Soldier F found not guilty of two murders and five attempted murders
Judge Patrick Lynch said the evidence provided by the Crown fell "well short" of what was needed for a conviction.
Last updated 23rd Oct 2025
Soldier F was today (Thursday) found not guilty of two murders and five attempted murders on Bloody Sunday in Londonderry in 1972.
Delivering his judgment at Belfast Crown Court, Judge Patrick Lynch said the evidence presented against the former paratrooper fell well short of what was required for conviction.
Soldier F had been accused of the murders of James Wray and William McKinney on Bloody Sunday, regarded as one of the darkest days of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
The veteran had also been accused of attempting to murder Michael Quinn, Patrick O'Donnell, Joseph Friel, Joe Mahon and an unknown person.
Thirteen people were killed when members of the Parachute Regiment opened fire on a civil rights demonstration in the city.
The non-jury trial heard evidence across four weeks which included statements by two of Soldier F's colleagues.
Soldier F was present at Belfast Crown Court for each day of the trial with his identify concealed behind a curtain in the court room.
Relatives of the men killed and supporters also attended each day of the trial.
In the packed public gallery at court 12, gathered relatives of the Bloody Sunday victims gave no visible or audible response as Soldier F was found not guilty on all counts.
There was also no reaction from those in the public gallery supporting the former paratrooper.
Judge Patrick Lynch said there was no concept of "collective guilt" in the courts.
He said the Crown had failed to establish that Soldier F was "knowingly and intentionally assisting in the shootings, with intent to kill or was shooting himself with that intention".
The judge said the sole evidence against Soldier F was from two other veterans, Soldiers G and H, and said there were difficulties in relying on it.
He added: "Their statements, the sole and decisive evidence, cannot be tested in a way that witnesses giving evidence from the witness box would be.
"Delay has, in my view, seriously hampered the capacity of the defence to test the veracity and accuracy of the hearsay statements.
"The two witnesses are themselves, on the basis of the Crown case guilty of murder as, in essence, accomplices with a motivation to name F as a participant in their murderous activities. I find that they have been serially untruthful about matters central to events giving rise to this prosecution. They have committed perjury, G once to the Widgery Inquiry and H twice to the Widgery and Saville Inquiries."
Judge Lynch said the evidence provided by the Crown fell "well short" of what was needed for a conviction.
He told Belfast Crown Court: "Whatever suspicions the court may have about the role of F, this court is constrained and limited by the evidence properly presented before it.
"To convict it has to be upon evidence that is convincing and manifestly reliable.
"The evidence presented by the Crown falls well short of this standard and signally fails to reach the high standard of proof required in a criminal case; that of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
"Therefore, I find the accused not guilty on all seven counts on the present bill of indictment."
The campaign of Bloody Sunday families will not conclude with the acquittal of Soldier F, families have said.
Ciaran Shiels, a solicitor who represents some of the Bloody Sunday families, said there was no right of appeal in the case.
Asked what was next for the cause, he said they were waiting for a review from the Public Prosecution Service in relation to alleged perjury and said they would push for a prosecution to be taken "without further delay".
"We're not finished yet," said Mickey McKinney, a brother of Bloody Sunday victim William McKinney, adding that they viewed taking the case as "big".
"It's a big one, we took them to the wire."
Meanwhile, Veterans Commissioner David Johnstone said veterans will welcome the acquittal.
"The veteran community in Northern Ireland will welcome today's outcome based on precedent and similar legacy court cases," he said outside the court.
"It has become increasingly clear that the admissibility of certain types of evidence, particularly those based on decades old recollections, remains deeply problematic. Soldier F has faced legal scrutiny in various forms for more than a quarter of a century, and it is my hope that today's ruling by Judge Lynch brings that long and arduous process to a close.
"As Veterans Commissioner, I will continue to advocate for a legacy process that ensures fairness for all and that does not facilitate the wholesale demonisation of those who served, the vast majority of whom did so with restraint and professionalism, with the sole motivation, in the main, to protect all sections of our community during the turbulent years of our conflict."
Paul Young, national spokesman for the Northern Ireland Veterans Movement, said veterans would be "heartened by this verdict today" and was interrupted as he addressed the media.
"I will just leave because I'm obviously not going to get a word in here," he said. "Soldiers across the United Kingdom will be happy with this, and I hope that there is no more soldiers brought to the courts here with evidence that has actually no way of going through."