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Sunday 30 January 1972 remains among the deadliest – and momentous – dates throughout thirty years of violence in Northern Ireland.

Throughout the area of the incident – the memories of that fateful day are visible on the structures and embedded in collective memory.

A protest demonstration was conducted on a cold but bright day in Derry.

The march was challenging the system of imprisonment without charges – imprisoning people without legal proceedings – which had been put in place following three years of conflict.

Troops from the specialized division shot dead 13 people in the Bogside area – which was, and continues to be, a overwhelmingly Irish nationalist population.

One image became particularly memorable.

Pictures showed a clergyman, Father Daly, waving a blood-stained cloth as he tried to protect a assembly carrying a young man, Jackie Duddy, who had been mortally injured.

News camera operators recorded much footage on the day.

Documented accounts features Father Daly telling a media representative that soldiers "appeared to shoot indiscriminately" and he was "completely sure" that there was no justification for the shooting.

The narrative of what happened was disputed by the original examination.

The initial inquiry determined the soldiers had been shot at first.

In the negotiation period, the ruling party commissioned a fresh examination, in response to advocacy by bereaved relatives, who said the first investigation had been a cover-up.

During 2010, the conclusion by the inquiry said that generally, the military personnel had fired first and that not one of the casualties had posed any threat.

The contemporary government leader, the Prime Minister, expressed regret in the government chamber – saying fatalities were "without justification and unjustifiable."

The police commenced look into the events.

An ex-soldier, referred to as the defendant, was charged for killing.

He was charged over the deaths of one victim, 22, and 26-year-old the second individual.

Soldier F was also accused of trying to kill multiple individuals, Joseph Friel, Joe Mahon, Michael Quinn, and an unidentified individual.

There is a legal order protecting the soldier's anonymity, which his legal team have maintained is essential because he is at threat.

He stated to the examination that he had exclusively discharged his weapon at individuals who were armed.

That claim was disputed in the concluding document.

Material from the investigation would not be used straightforwardly as testimony in the legal proceedings.

In court, the veteran was hidden from public using a protective barrier.

He addressed the court for the initial occasion in the hearing at a proceeding in late 2024, to reply "not guilty" when the accusations were put to him.

Family members of the deceased on that day made the trip from Londonderry to the judicial building each day of the trial.

One relative, whose brother Michael was died, said they were aware that hearing the case would be painful.

"I can see the events in my memory," John said, as we walked around the main locations discussed in the trial – from the street, where the victim was shot dead, to the adjoining the courtyard, where the individual and another victim were fatally wounded.

"It even takes me back to my location that day.

"I assisted with the victim and place him in the ambulance.

"I experienced again the entire event during the testimony.

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