Man shot with hands in air

Thirteen people died on Bloody Sunday

An SDLP councillor has told the Saville Inquiry he saw a soldier shoot a man who had his hands in the air on Bloody Sunday.

Sean Carr, a member of Derry City Council, said the man was shot for no reason.

Mr Carr, who was 13 on Bloody Sunday, recounted watching events from an upstairs window of his family home on Abbey Park in the city's Bogside on 30 January 1972.

The Saville Inquiry is investigating the events of Bloody Sunday when paratroopers opened fired on civil rights marchers in Londonderry killing 13 men. Another man died later.

Mr Carr's testimony on Tuesday described civilians running through the entry linking Glenfada Park North and Abbey North before a soldier appeared in the entry.

He told of seeing one man throw his hands up in the air.

'Blessed himself'

"As the man put his hands up and looked at the soldier, the soldier put his rifle to his right shoulder and shot the man," he said

"The man fell to his right and then onto his side and rolled onto his back. He fell in the position where he was standing.

"From the window I could see that he blessed himself with his right hand across the centre of his face.

"I could not believe what I had seen. There was absolutely no reason for it. The man had been doing nothing and had his hands clearly up in the air."

Mr Carr said he also saw a man run over to the injured man, who was also shot.

Earlier on Tuesday a witness shot on Bloody Sunday told the inquiry he did not seek hospital treatment because he feared arrest.

Hat shot off

Danny Gillespie said he was treated in a house in the Bogside by a Knight of Malta first aider for a graze on his scalp.

"I heard a sharp crack and I knew I had been hit. I do not remember any flash coming from the gun.

"I fell forwards with my face down on the tarmac. My hat had been blown off.

"I could feel a stinging and burning sensation and I thought that I had lost the top of my head," he said.

Lord Saville of Newdigate is heading the inquiry, which has been sitting in public in Derry since March 2000 and is expected to last another two years.