‘Sickening threat’ against Bloody Sunday victim’s family condemned

By Rebecca Black, PA

A “sickening threat” issued against the family of a man killed on Bloody Sunday has been condemned.

Mickey McKinney, who is the brother of William McKinney, said the threat against his family was received during the trial of former paratrooper Soldier F, who is accused of the murder of Mr McKinney as well as James Wray.

A judge is set to deliver a verdict next week following the trial at Belfast Crown Court which concluded on Thursday.

Mr McKinney said the threat came via social media, and admitted he had “lost a night’s sleep over it”.

Foyle MP Colum Eastwood condemned those behind the threat.

“It’s hard to imagine the kind of sick person who would see victims and their families campaigning for justice following the murder of their loved ones and decide to threaten to kill them,” the SDLP MP said.

“Mickey McKinney is a good man fighting alongside his family and the families of all those killed or injured on Bloody Sunday for justice.

“It is sickening that they’ve been subjected to this in the middle of the trial of Soldier F.

“Alongside political and civic leaders across our city from every background, I’ve stood with these families for decades in their campaign for justice.

“The people of Derry will be with them every step of the way and I know that people from every community will be disgusted at these threats.”

A police spokesperson said: “We do not discuss the security of individuals and no inference should be drawn from this.

“However, if we receive information that a person’s life may be at risk, we will inform them accordingly. We never ignore anything which may put an individual at risk.”