A HIGH Court ruling in favour of former British paratroopers has been dismissed as a “shallow victory” by families of the Bloody Sunday dead and injured.
Seven ex-soldiers were successful in a legal challenge against plans to arrest them and bring them to Northern Ireland for questioning about the 1972 killings.
They took the action after police arrested one of their colleagues last month.
Their legal teams argued there would be a real danger to their lives if they were brought to Northern Ireland.
The High Court granted the former soldiers an order banning the PSNI from arresting them on the undertaking that they would attend for interview under caution in Britain.
The interviews are to be carried out by the PSNI at police stations or other locations in England or Wales.
Bloody Sunday relatives described the former soldiers' court victory as a “minor hiccup”.
John Kelly, whose brother Michael (17) was shot dead, said he wasn’t surprised by the ruling.
“The same thing happened during the Saville Inquiry when the soldiers gave their evidence in London," he said.
“I think the soldiers never believed that police would some day knock on their door. The important thing is that the murder investigation is continuing despite their efforts to delay it. This is a small hiccup but the process is going on.”
Kate Nash, whose brother, William (19) was killed, also said the families were determined to continue their campaign for justice.
“If it takes us to go to England then so be it,” she said.
Michael McKinney, a brother of victim William McKinney, added that police would probably get the same interview results in England as they would in the north.
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said yesterday there could be no further delays to the Bloody Sunday families' demand for justice.
“It is a vital component of reconciliation that those who have suffered most as a result of conflict are supported to pursue justice free from the kind of concerted campaign of obstruction that the MoD has waged against these families.”
Sinn Féin MLA Raymond McCartney also said the High Court ruling was just the latest in a long line of obstructions.
However, Ulster Unionist MP Tom Elliott welcomed the ruling, saying many believed it was disproportionate to pursue individual soldiers more than 40 years after Bloody Sunday.
Police have pledged to continue their investigation.
