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January 30th, 1972 remains one of the most deadly – and significant – dates in thirty years of violence in the region.

Throughout the area where events unfolded – the legacy of the tragic events are painted on the structures and etched in people's minds.

A public gathering was conducted on a wintry, sunny day in the city.

The protest was challenging the policy of imprisonment without charges – detaining individuals without trial – which had been implemented after multiple years of conflict.

Troops from the Parachute Regiment fatally wounded 13 people in the neighborhood – which was, and still is, a overwhelmingly Irish nationalist community.

A particular photograph became particularly iconic.

Photographs showed a clergyman, the priest, waving a bloodied fabric while attempting to protect a group carrying a young man, the fatally wounded individual, who had been mortally injured.

Media personnel documented much footage on the day.

Historical records includes the priest telling a media representative that soldiers "appeared to discharge weapons randomly" and he was "totally convinced" that there was no justification for the discharge of weapons.

That version of what happened was disputed by the first inquiry.

The first investigation found the military had been fired upon initially.

Throughout the peace process, the ruling party set up a fresh examination, after campaigning by surviving kin, who said the initial inquiry had been a whitewash.

That year, the conclusion by Lord Saville said that overall, the soldiers had initiated shooting and that not one of the victims had presented danger.

The then government leader, the Prime Minister, apologised in the government chamber – saying deaths were "without justification and unacceptable."

The police started to examine the matter.

An ex-soldier, known as the defendant, was brought to trial for murder.

Indictments were filed over the fatalities of the first individual, 22, and twenty-six-year-old William McKinney.

Soldier F was further implicated of attempting to murder several people, Joseph Friel, Joe Mahon, an additional individual, and an unidentified individual.

Exists a court ruling maintaining the veteran's privacy, which his attorneys have argued is required because he is at threat.

He testified the examination that he had solely shot at individuals who were armed.

The statement was disputed in the concluding document.

Information from the inquiry could not be used immediately as testimony in the legal proceedings.

During the trial, the defendant was shielded from sight using a privacy screen.

He spoke for the initial occasion in the proceedings at a hearing in late 2024, to reply "not responsible" when the charges were presented.

Kin of the victims on the incident journeyed from Londonderry to Belfast Crown Court each day of the trial.

One relative, whose relative was killed, said they always knew that hearing the trial would be difficult.

"I visualize all details in my memory," he said, as we visited the key areas mentioned in the proceedings – from the location, where Michael was shot dead, to the adjacent the area, where James Wray and William McKinney were killed.

"It reminds me to my location that day.

"I participated in moving the victim and lay him in the medical transport.

"I experienced again every moment during the testimony.

"Notwithstanding experiencing everything – it's still valuable for me."