THE family of Bloody Sunday campaigner Kate Nash have distanced themselves from calls she made for Soldier F to be spared jail if he is convicted of two Bloody Sunday murders.
Ms Nash said last week that Solider F should not be imprisoned if he is convicted of the murder of Jim Wray and William McKinney.
Her comments sparked an angry response from the family of William McKinney as well as three of the injured men and the family of the fourth, Patrick O’Donnell who has died.
Yesterday relatives of Ms Nash issued a separate statement also rejecting her comments. Signed by eight family members, the statement said they believed she was wrong to say what she did.
“Our whole family want to state publicly that she does not represent either our family or our views and she never has,” the statement said.
The family added that, as Soldier F was not involved in the killing of their brother William and the wounding of their father, Alex on Bloody Sunday, they felt Ms Nash had no right to make the comments she did.
The Nash family, who said the intervention was "not welcome" expressed concern that the comments could impact on a case which the Bloody Sunday families had worked hard for.
Ms Nash told The Irish News last night it was never her intention to speak for anyone but herself. She said she always believed that those who committed a crime on Bloody Sunday should be prosecuted.
"I have always called for prosecution and have stated often that it was convictions rather thansentences that were importatn to me," she said.
She added that while this was the case she believed a number of former senior figures should be jailed over Bloody Sunday. Ms Nash said she had not commented about Soldier F as she understood the importance of sub judice.
