Bloody Sunday Soldier F Trial: Attempted Murder Victims Joe Mahon & Joe Friel Give Evidence — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Our top story tonight is the ongoing
2. 0:02trial of a former British soldier known
3. 0:05as Soldier F. He can't be named for
4. 0:07legal reasons. The former paratrooper is
5. 0:10accused of the murders of two of those
6. 0:12killed on Bloody Sunday in the bogside
7. 0:14in January 1972.
8. 0:17He's accused of killing Jim Ray and
9. 0:19William McKini. They were among 13
10. 0:22people shot dead that day. Today, one
11. 0:24man who was wounded told the court that
12. 0:27as he lay on the ground, he saw saw one
13. 0:29soldier firing from the hip. Our crime
14. 0:32and justice correspondent Julian O'Neal
15. 0:34reports on today's hearing.
16. 0:38>> Soldier F is on trial over the part of
17. 0:40Bloody Sunday which occurred here in
18. 0:43this courtyard in Derry's Bogside. It's
19. 0:45a place still showing the signs of the
20. 0:48bullets.
21. 0:49Today in a Belfast courtroom, families
22. 0:52and campaigners heard testimony from the
23. 0:54man furthest to the right of this
24. 0:56picture, Joe Mahan, who was 16 years old
25. 1:00when he was wounded at Glenfada Park.
26. 1:03Mr. Mahan told the court, "I thought I
27. 1:05was hit by a rubber bullet." He went on
28. 1:08to say, "I know it might sound funny,
29. 1:11but when you see someone getting shot on
30. 1:13the TV, they are rolling about in pain.
31. 1:16I wasn't that way." He then described
32. 1:19hearing a voice beside him saying, "I'm
33. 1:21hit, son. I'm hit." Mr. Mahan later
34. 1:25found out it was one of those who died,
35. 1:27William McKini.
36. 1:29Soldier F denies murdering William
37. 1:32McKini and Jim Ray, as well as five
38. 1:34counts of attempted murder. Mr. Mahan
39. 1:38told the court that at one point he'd
40. 1:40pretended to be dead to avoid being
41. 1:43fired on a second time after describing
42. 1:45how he saw Jim Ray shot twice on the
43. 1:48ground from close range.
44. 1:51Soldier F is the only person ever
45. 1:54charged over Bloody Sunday. The Army
46. 1:57veteran's identity is protected by a
47. 1:59court order and he is watching
48. 2:01proceedings through a gap in curtains
49. 2:03which screen him from public view.
50. 2:07Joseph Freel also gave evidence he was
51. 2:1020 when he too was shot at Glenfata Park
52. 2:13as he tried to run for cover. He
53. 2:16described seeing a soldier firing two or
54. 2:18three shots and then feeling a thud in
55. 2:21his chest. Mr. Fel said he began
56. 2:24coughing up blood and then staggered and
57. 2:26collapsed. Reflecting on what he told
58. 2:29the court 53 years after the event, he
59. 2:33said, "When you see someone trying to
60. 2:35murder you, you do not forget."
61. 2:38Julian O'Neal, BBC Newsline, Belfast.
62. 2:43>> You can read more about today's case and
63. 2:45the rest of the trial so far on our
64. 2:47website or by downloading the BBC News
65. 2:50app.