Is This Justice?

[spen666]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...-guilty-bloody-sunday-murders-derry-soldier-f

53 years after the alleged offending.

Trial concluded

Defendant acquitted of all criminal offences

 

[Ian H]

Delivering his verdict, the judge said paratroopers had “lost all sense of military discipline” and shot unarmed civilians fleeing from them. “Those responsible should hang their heads in shame,” he said.

So that's alright then.

 

[CXRAndy]

Given he was acquitted of the charge yes

 

[spen666]

Delivering his verdict, the judge said paratroopers had “lost all sense of military discipline” and shot unarmed civilians fleeing from them. “Those responsible should hang their heads in shame,” he said.

So that's alright then.

Losing all sense of military discipline does not necessarily equal committing a crime as the verdict and dicta shows

Having to wait 53 years for a trial is a huge wait for both the accused and also the victim's family. Especially when all the evidence was easily obtainable shortly after the incident occurred

 

[bobzmyunkle]

Losing all sense of military discipline does not necessarily equal committing a crime as the verdict and dicta shows

The report in the Guardian suggests that the not guilty was due to lack of reliable evidence, not that a crime wasn't committed.

But the trial hinged not on “collective guilt” but individual guilt, and the main evidence against Soldier F came from two fellow paratroopers, Soldiers G and H, whose decades-old testimony was unreliable, he said.

“Their statements, the sole and decisive evidence, cannot be tested in a way that witnesses giving evidence from the witness box would be. Delay has, in my view, seriously hampered the capacity of the defence to test the veracity and accuracy of the hearsay statements.” The judge found that Soldiers G and H had been “serially untruthful”.

In my view the crime was to send in the Paras. Whoever made that decision should have been charged. If any soldier was charged in should have been their commanding officer.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

That any defendant is acquitted due to insufficient or unreliable evidence is justice.

That unarmed civilians were shot in the back by soldiers as they fled, and nobody has been held to account for their murders, is a grave injustice.

 

[Beebo]

Many IRA suspects were given assurances when the peace process began that their crimes would not be investigated.
So it’s probably the correct decision but reached the wrong way.
We all know crimes were committed by both sides.

 

[the snail]

Losing all sense of military discipline does not necessarily equal committing a crime as the verdict and dicta shows

Having to wait 53 years for a trial is a huge wait for both the accused and also the victim's family. Especially when all the evidence was easily obtainable shortly after the incident occurred

Well quite, 'justice delayed is justice denied'.