Teenager ‘told man not to move’ before he was shot on Bloody Sunday

By Jonathan McCambridge, PA

A witness has said he told a man lying on the ground not to move and pretend to be dead moments before he was shot dead on Bloody Sunday.

Malachy Coyle also told Belfast Crown Court he saw a soldier who appeared to be “angry” firing towards a young person who was attempting to run.

Soldier F, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is accused of the murders of James Wray and William McKinney.

They were among 13 people who were shot dead by the Parachute Regiment at a civil rights demonstration in the Bogside area of Derry on January 30th 1972.

He is also accused of attempting to murder Michael Quinn, Patrick O’Donnell, Joseph Friel, Joe Mahon and an unknown person.

Soldier F’s non-jury trial began in Belfast last month. He sits in the courtroom behind a curtain.

Mr Coyle said he was 15 when he took part in the civil rights march.

He told the court there was tension as rumours circulated that a man had been shot.

He told how he had been left unable to breathe and was being sick due to the effects of CS gas used on marchers.

He then moved towards Glenfada Park North, where he heard gunfire.

Mr Coyle said: “It was high-velocity shots. It was a high crack, it wasn’t like a shotgun you see in a film, it was a high-pitched crack.”

The witness said he was scared and started to run towards the Abbey Park gap. He was pulled into the back yard of a house by an older man and tried to hide.

He was shot, I could see the sparks underneath on the pavement

He told the court he could see through the slats in the garden fence that there were soldiers in Glenfada Park North.

Mr Coyle said he saw three people lying on the ground. He said the man who was closest to him was still alive.

He said: “He looked up… he says, ‘I can’t move my legs’.

“I thought the other two people were dead. They weren’t moving.”

Mr Coyle said he told the man on the ground not to move and to pretend he was dead.

He added: “There was another shot.”

Mr Coyle said he heard a groan and the man’s head went down.

He added: “He was shot, I could see the sparks underneath on the pavement.

“He was gone.”

Mr Coyle said he then saw a bare-headed soldier who looked “dangerous” and “angry”.

He said there were a number of young men in Glenfada Park.

Mr Coyle said: “He turned and looked at them, with a gun, and I think he said, ‘I am going to shoot you you Irish bastards’.”

The witness said he and the older man moved out from behind the fence with their hands on their heads because they were afraid they would be shot.

He said there were about eight to 10 soldiers in the area.

He told the court he saw the “angry” soldier shoot towards a young man who was attempting to run away.

He said: “I know there was no body found there, but that is what I saw.”

A number of witness statements are expected to be read in the trial later on Friday.