Soldier F case should serve as a caution for future Troubles prosecutions

It is undisputed that members of the Parachute regiment shot dead 13 unarmed civil rights protesters in Derry on Bloody Sunday. But, more than 53 years later, it is not surprising that Soldier F, the only man put on trial for murder, was found not guilty.

Though four of the Paras who entered Glenfada Park North had “lost all sense of military discipline”, according to Mr Justice Lynch, direct evidence against Soldier F fell well short of “the high standard of proof required in a criminal case”.

The case against Soldier F, who offered no evidence of his own, was based on statements made in the early 1970s by two Paras who were on the scene, Soldier G and Soldier H. Other evidence from civilians present, though contextually important, did not directly implicate Soldier F, the judge said.

The other two soldiers described firing aimed shots themselves – in evidence that for legal reasons was inadmissible against them – but their evidence against Soldier F could not be considered reliable, Lynch concluded. He said they were “accomplices with a motivation to name F as a participant in their murderous activities”.

Because it was so high profile, the trial of Soldier F was one of a handful that was allowed to continue when the previous Conservative government passed the 2023 Northern Ireland Legacy Act, which halted almost all legal proceedings involving Troubles-related killings. The acquittal is an argument for why that legislation was so flawed.

The core argument in its favour was to end what the Conservatives described as “vexatious prosecutions” against British army veterans decades after the event. But the reality is that there has been little evidence of a witch-hunt, with only one former soldier having been convicted since 1998. He received a suspended sentence.

Though with the passage of time the hope of justice for victims’ families may have been slim, removing it completely has proved impossible to accept by victims’ groups, all political parties in Northern Ireland and the Irish government.

The legislation was also indiscriminate. Among the cases it halted were investigations into the deaths of 202 soldiers and 23 veterans, such as the murder of Pte Tony Harrison, a paratrooper shot dead in 1991. Off duty, he was watching a film on television with his girlfriend in east Belfast when IRA gunmen stormed in.

The problem is that it has taken too long to reach the point of a trial, a problem caused first by years of cover-ups, whether by paramilitary groups or the British state. A more recent difficulty has been the lack of funding for bodies such as the Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland or the Historical Investigations Unit, acknowledging the legitimacy of cases like Harrison’s but unable to progress them.

Labour introduced legislation earlier this month to repeal the 2023 act, and acknowledged it would mean the restarting of at least nine inquests, including one into the deaths of eight IRA men and a civilian who were shot dead by the SAS in Loughgall, County Armagh in 1987.

The verdict in the case of Soldier F shows that it is perfectly possible to judge Troubles-related cases against whatever evidence is available decades after. But it should also act as a caution to prosecutors. “Whatever suspicions the court may have about the role of F, this court is constrained and limited by the evidence properly presented before it,” Lynch concluded.