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Sunday 30 January 1972 stands as arguably the deadliest – and consequential – occasions throughout multiple decades of violence in the region.

In the streets of the incident – the images of that fateful day are painted on the structures and etched in public consciousness.

A protest demonstration was conducted on a wintry, sunny period in Derry.

The march was a protest against the policy of detention without trial – holding suspects without legal proceedings – which had been put in place following three years of unrest.

Soldiers from the Parachute Regiment killed thirteen individuals in the neighborhood – which was, and still is, a strongly republican population.

A specific visual became particularly iconic.

Pictures showed a Catholic priest, Father Daly, displaying a blood-stained white handkerchief while attempting to defend a group carrying a teenager, Jackie Duddy, who had been fatally wounded.

News camera operators captured extensive video on the day.

Documented accounts includes the priest telling a media representative that military personnel "appeared to shoot indiscriminately" and he was "absolutely certain" that there was no justification for the shooting.

That version of events was disputed by the initial investigation.

The Widgery Tribunal found the soldiers had been fired upon initially.

Throughout the resolution efforts, the ruling party set up another inquiry, after campaigning by bereaved relatives, who said the first investigation had been a inadequate investigation.

That year, the conclusion by the investigation said that generally, the soldiers had discharged weapons initially and that zero among the victims had presented danger.

At that time Prime Minister, the Prime Minister, issued an apology in the government chamber – stating deaths were "unjustified and unacceptable."

The police commenced investigate the events.

One former paratrooper, referred to as Soldier F, was charged for killing.

Accusations were made concerning the killings of the first individual, 22, and in his mid-twenties another victim.

The defendant was additionally charged of attempting to murder multiple individuals, additional persons, Joe Mahon, another person, and an unidentified individual.

There is a legal order protecting the soldier's anonymity, which his legal team have maintained is necessary because he is at risk of attack.

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

The statement was rejected in the official findings.

Information from the examination could not be used straightforwardly as evidence in the criminal process.

In the dock, the veteran was hidden from public behind a privacy screen.

He made statements for the initial occasion in court at a hearing in late 2024, to reply "not guilty" when the accusations were presented.

Relatives of those who were killed on that day journeyed from Derry to the courthouse daily of the trial.

A family member, whose brother Michael was died, said they understood that hearing the case would be emotional.

"I remember everything in my memory," he said, as we examined the key areas discussed in the case – from Rossville Street, where the victim was shot dead, to the adjoining Glenfada Park, where one victim and William McKinney were died.

"It reminds me to my location that day.

"I helped to carry my brother and lay him in the medical transport.

"I experienced again every moment during the testimony.

"Despite experiencing everything – it's still valuable for me."