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January 30th, 1972 remains one of the most deadly – and consequential – days in three decades of violence in the region.

Within the community where it happened – the legacy of the tragic events are painted on the structures and etched in collective memory.

A public gathering was conducted on a chilly yet clear day in Londonderry.

The demonstration was challenging the policy of imprisonment without charges – imprisoning people without due process – which had been established following three years of conflict.

Military personnel from the Parachute Regiment shot dead 13 people in the Bogside area – which was, and remains, a strongly republican area.

A particular photograph became especially iconic.

Pictures showed a clergyman, Fr Edward Daly, displaying a bloodied fabric in his effort to shield a assembly moving a teenager, the injured teenager, who had been mortally injured.

Journalists documented considerable film on the day.

The archive contains Fr Daly telling a journalist that troops "appeared to fire in all directions" and he was "totally convinced" that there was no provocation for the shooting.

The narrative of events was rejected by the original examination.

The Widgery Tribunal determined the Army had been fired upon initially.

In the negotiation period, Tony Blair's government commissioned a new investigation, after campaigning by surviving kin, who said the initial inquiry had been a cover-up.

In 2010, the conclusion by the investigation said that generally, the soldiers had fired first and that zero among the victims had been armed.

The then head of state, the Prime Minister, issued an apology in the government chamber – stating fatalities were "improper and inexcusable."

Authorities began to investigate the matter.

A military veteran, known as the defendant, was prosecuted for homicide.

Accusations were made concerning the fatalities of the first individual, in his twenties, and 26-year-old another victim.

The accused was additionally charged of attempting to murder several people, additional persons, more people, an additional individual, and an unknown person.

There is a legal order preserving the veteran's privacy, which his lawyers have argued is required because he is at risk of attack.

He told the examination that he had only fired at persons who were armed.

The statement was rejected in the concluding document.

Information from the examination was unable to be used directly as evidence in the criminal process.

In court, the defendant was shielded from sight behind a privacy screen.

He made statements for the opening instance in the hearing at a hearing in December 2024, to answer "innocent" when the charges were read.

Relatives of those who were killed on that day made the trip from the city to the courthouse daily of the trial.

John Kelly, whose relative was killed, said they always knew that attending the trial would be difficult.

"I visualize the events in my recollection," John said, as we walked around the main locations discussed in the case – from Rossville Street, where his brother was fatally wounded, to the adjacent Glenfada Park, where James Wray and the second person were died.

"It reminds me to my position that day.

"I participated in moving the victim and place him in the medical transport.

"I went through the entire event during the proceedings.

"But even with having to go through the process – it's still valuable for me."