Soldier F not guilty of murder on Bloody Sunday murder

This is going to go down well. Do wonders for British reputation. And never be brought up again as an example of the government spending decades covering up war-crimes.

/s

*Anyone else getting deja vu?*

I have followed it a little bit and it seemed to me like the evidence was very damning, so it is going to be interesting to see the justification for this decision.

Almost as if the accused, the judge and prosecutor all working for the same entity might produce nonsensical outcomes.

Strange that the CPS is able to secure a 80%+ conviction rate against the general public when they’re accused of killing someone, yet have a habit of mysteriously falling short whenever someone working for their employer is in the dock.

Ridiculous decision, but sadly expected. A cover up from start to finish.

We have investigated ourselves and found no wrongdoing

Just remember, the British government deployed this regiment, who have also been credibly accused of war crimes in Kenya, Cyprus & Yemen prior, to civil protests in the UK. They murdered innocent protesters who were British citizens and the UK government spent 53 years covering it up and fighting it, and continue to do so. All because the people they killed weren’t the right type of British citizens who weren’t deemed to deserve the same civil rights as the rest. Take that as a warning.

Respect to the families, their strength and dignity puts that coward to shame. I wish him only suffering but it’s meaningless, he already got to live out his life, something he robbed others of. 

At the end of the day justice goes both ways. Soldier F may or may not have personally done it, someone obviously did and no one’s been prosecuted for that.

The IRA also committed numerous atrocities that will never be punished.

Either we go after the IRA and the British army again, which only reignites the whole thing, or we agree both sides did horrendous things and build for a better future where we mutually agree it should never happen again.

The armchair experts on this thread will no doubt be frothing at the mouth in outrage. Just the same as the ones going mad over Lucy Connelly being jailed (even though she pleaded guilty) and the the acquittal of a Labour councilor for similar offences.

I suspect very few of the outraged commenters will have researched the case.

The evidence rested heavily on the testimony of two other soldiers (which itself is ironic given some comments). The court found their statements could not be tested reliably, and the defence case was that they were also inconsistent.

The court did find that the Parachute Regiment lost discipline that day, and did fire into the crowd.

What the court could not prove was a link between the deaths of individuals and the actions of soldier F.

People who feel this isn’t justice are both right and wrong.

The victims deserved justice, but justice isn’t perfect. Justice should have been delivered 50 years ago.

Justice in 2025 is harder to achieve.

If people want revenge then that’s different, but it’s worth remembering how quickly we moved on from WW2. If you want to educate yourself look up the Batang Kali massacre.

The British government have NEVER apologised for murdering 24 unarmed men in 1948.

But the UN and European Courts have found that the passage of time inhibits further examination.

This is now on the edge of that time for Northern Ireland and for the sake of future generations a balance must be struck.

Jfc the British are not going to convict their own soldiers for shooting Taigs.
Why does this still surprise people.
They are British, we are not. Their own soldiers matter more than foreigners.
It’s that simple

The northern part of Ireland is still under british occupation so this is hardly surprising

I’m English and have never believed in the ‘All English people are bastards’ thing that people like Kneecap believe; but the fact this guy wasn’t charged for shooting indiscriminately at unarmed civilians is a fucking disgrace.

Just because all sides did vile shit during the Troubles doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t be held accountable, you’d think that soldiers of the British Army would be held to a higher standards than a bunch of paramilitary thugs.

Unfortunately, while this result was infuriating, it’s not like it was surprising.