Bloody Sunday murder inquiry launched

06 July 2012

Police in Northern Ireland have launched a murder investigation into to the deaths of the 13 civilians killed on Bloody Sunday, it has been announced.

British soldiers shot and killed 13 people in the Bogside area of Londonderry on 30 January 1972, with a 14th man dying several months later.

An extensive inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday by Lord Saville found that none of those killed were posing a threat of death or serious injury to the men who shot them, and Prime Minister David Cameron publicly apologised for the actions of the soldiers. The inquiry took 12 years to complete and cost over £200m.

Some of the troops present on the day later claimed Lord Saville 'cherry picked' evidence in order to place the blame on them, but did admit 'mistakes' had been made which led to the 'tragic' deaths.

The Saville inquiry's findings cannot be used as evidence by police, so some 30 detectives from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) are to spend up to four years investigating the killings after reviewing the inquiry's report.