Northern Ireland

Bloody Sunday: Who were James Wray and William McKinney?

James Wray (left) and William McKinney who died on Bloody Sunday. Soldier F will be prosecuted for their killings. Picture from Bloody Sunday Trust/PA Wire
James Wray (left) and William McKinney who died on Bloody Sunday. Soldier F will be prosecuted for their killings. Picture from Bloody Sunday Trust/PA Wire James Wray (left) and William McKinney who died on Bloody Sunday. Soldier F will be prosecuted for their killings. Picture from Bloody Sunday Trust/PA Wire

ONE former soldier is to be prosecuted for the murders of William McKinney and James Wray on Bloody Sunday.

They were among 13 people shot dead by paratroopers following a civil rights march in Derry on January 30 1972.

This is how the Saville report described William McKinney and James Wray:

William "Willie" McKinney (27)

The keen amateur film-maker recorded scenes from the march with his hand-held cinecamera before the shooting started.

The camera was found in his jacket pocket as he lay dying after being shot in the back in Glenfada Park.

The soldiers who fired in this area all claimed they fired at people in possession of or seeking to use bombs or firearms.

But Lord Saville dismissed these accounts: "In our view, none of these soldiers fired in the belief that he had or might have identified a person in possession of or using or about to use bombs or firearms".

James Wray (22)

Engaged to be married, the civil rights activist was shot twice in the back in Glenfada Park.

The second shot was fired as he lay mortally wounded on the ground.

Rejecting soldiers' claims that they had shot him in the belief he had been armed, Lord Saville was particularly damning of the paratrooper who fired the second round.

He said: "Whichever soldier was responsible for firing the second shot, we are sure that he must have known that there was no possible justification for shooting Jim Wray as he lay on the ground".

Bloody Sunday: Who were James Wray and William McKinney?
Bloody Sunday: Who were James Wray and William McKinney?

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