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Sunday 30 January 1972 stands as among the most fatal – and significant – dates in thirty years of violence in the region.

In the streets where it happened – the memories of that fateful day are painted on the buildings and embedded in people's minds.

A civil rights march was organized on a wintry, sunny afternoon in Derry.

The demonstration was a protest against the system of internment – detaining individuals without trial – which had been put in place in response to three years of unrest.

Troops from the specialized division killed multiple civilians in the district – which was, and still is, a overwhelmingly Irish nationalist population.

A particular photograph became especially iconic.

Pictures showed a Catholic priest, Father Daly, using a bloodied cloth in his effort to shield a group moving a teenager, the fatally wounded individual, who had been fatally wounded.

News camera operators recorded extensive video on the day.

The archive includes Father Daly informing a journalist that military personnel "appeared to discharge weapons randomly" and he was "completely sure" that there was no provocation for the gunfire.

This account of what happened was disputed by the original examination.

The initial inquiry concluded the military had been fired upon initially.

Throughout the negotiation period, Tony Blair's government set up a new investigation, following pressure by family members, who said Widgery had been a whitewash.

During 2010, the report by Lord Saville said that overall, the military personnel had initiated shooting and that zero among the individuals had presented danger.

The then head of state, the leader, expressed regret in the House of Commons – saying deaths were "without justification and inexcusable."

The police started to investigate the incident.

One former paratrooper, known as the defendant, was prosecuted for killing.

Accusations were made regarding the killings of the first individual, 22, and twenty-six-year-old William McKinney.

The defendant was further implicated of attempting to murder several people, other civilians, further individuals, Michael Quinn, and an unidentified individual.

There is a court ruling protecting the soldier's anonymity, which his legal team have claimed is required because he is at threat.

He stated to the investigation that he had only fired at people who were armed.

The statement was rejected in the official findings.

Information from the inquiry was unable to be used straightforwardly as testimony in the legal proceedings.

During the trial, the defendant was screened from view behind a blue curtain.

He made statements for the initial occasion in the proceedings at a proceeding in late 2024, to respond "innocent" when the accusations were read.

Kin of the deceased on that day made the trip from Londonderry to Belfast Crown Court daily of the trial.

A family member, whose relative was fatally wounded, said they always knew that attending the proceedings would be painful.

"I can see everything in my mind's eye," the relative said, as we visited the primary sites discussed in the case – from the street, where the victim was shot dead, to the adjoining the courtyard, where the individual and the second person were killed.

"It returns me to my location that day.

"I helped to carry my brother and lay him in the medical transport.

"I experienced again the entire event during the testimony.

"Despite having to go through everything – it's still meaningful for me."