Bloody Sunday investigators finish interviews with ex-soldiers

Investigators looking into Bloody Sunday have finished interviewing former soldiers.

Detective Chief Inspector Ian Harrison, from Legacy Investigation Branch, said: "Police have concluded interviews with former military personnel and are in the process of compiling a report for the PPS.

“The families have been informed of this and we will continue to keep them updated in relation to developments.”

A total of 13 people died when paratroopers opened fire on a civil rights march in Londonderry in 1972, with a 14th person later dying of his injuries in hospital.

An investigation into the events of Bloody Sunday was set up by the PSNI’s Legacy Investigation Branch.

A review of the evidence gathered during the interviews of the surviving former soldiers will be presented to the Public Prosecution Service, which will then ascertain whether charges should be brought as a result.

Eamonn McCann, People Before Profit MLA for Foyle, said that it was a significant development.

“There was much cynicism at the time when the investigation was announced and whether it would ever reach this stage,” he said.

“We’re on the final stretch of this whole investigatory campaign and we now expect that the PPS will announce whether it intends to go to court.

“Everyone who has been involved in these sorts of campaigns over the years will understand the separation of trying to understand what happened and why it happened and what’s being done about it.

“This is the incident, out of the whole 40 years of the Troubles, that goes to the heart of the role of the British state in the Northern Ireland conflict.”