'No threat' to army before shootings

Daly escorted Jack Duddy's body from the Bogside

The retired Bishop of Derry has told the Bloody Sunday Inquiry there was no threat posed to the army when they opened fire.

Dr Edward Daly, 67, was giving evidence to the tribunal which is hearing evidence about the shooting dead of 13 men by British soldiers during a civil rights demonstration on 30 January 1972.

Another man John Johnston died later.

Bishop Daly was at time emotional as he told at the Guildhall in the city how he had helped the casualties.

Film footage of him waving a white handkerchief as the body Jack Duddy, 17, the first of person to be shot dead, was carried out of the Bogside became one of the most lasting images of that day.

Army fire

Dr Daly recalled that he heard only the army's "high velocity rifle shots" in the Bogside.

Some minutes later, he saw military armoured personnel carriers behind the barrier on Little James Street and said their revving engines alarmed him and others in the area.

"They started moving away slowly at first but then they gathered speed."

He fled down Rossville Street, veering left onto the car park of the Rossville Flats where he saw a civilian being struck by one of the vehicles.

He said: "I have a distinct memory of seeing a body thrown into the air."

Youth shot

As he ran across the car park, he became aware of the youth Jack Duddy also fleeing from the advancing soldiers and that he had nothing in his hands.

The shot which felled the youth came from behind, he said.

Jack Duddy ,17, was the first to die on Bloody Sunday

"A shot rang out. It was very clear over the general noise. Simultaneously with that, he gasped and fell on his face behind me, just a few feet from me."

Asked if the army had come under fire before the shot which hit Mr Duddy, Dr Daly said: "I certainly was not conscious of any gunfire directed towards the army, apart from one individual we shall come to later.

"Certainly there was no threat posed to the army at the time they opened fire, none. I don't think there was any justification for it."

He spoke of scenes of chaos as "a mass of frightened and panic-stricken people" jammed the two entries of the high-rise flats to escape the troops.

There was then a burst of gunfire which caused "terror" and he said: "The priority changed from getting away from it to taking cover."

White handkerchief

During a lull in the firing the Bishop said he saw the injured Mr Duddy lying in the middle of the car park where he had fallen, blood on his shirt, facing him, and he ventured out, waving a white handkerchief to help the teenager.

On reaching the young victim, along with a Knights of Malta paramedic, Charles Glenn, he administered the Last Rites to him - at which stage the gunfire started again.

Lord Saville is heading the inquiry

He stated: "We got as close to the ground as we could."

In the moments that followed, he said, another young man, Michael Bridge, danced hysterically, hands raised, screaming at the soldiers, "shoot me, shoot me".

The bishop said he then saw a soldier go down on one knee, aim towards Mr Bridge, and shoot him.

Civilian gunman

Dr Daly then saw a "civilian" appear around the corner of a house and "suddenly produce a gun from his pocket" and fire two or three shots around the corner towards the soldiers, who seemed oblivious to his presence.

He said the party tending to Mr Duddy shouted at him to go away, fearful that the troops may mistakenly believe the shots were coming from their direction.

He added: "I don't think the soldiers were aware of his presence. I think if they had been aware of his presence, I think they would have riddled him, certainly the mood they were in that particular afternoon."

He said, however, that he was not aware of any IRA involvement in the incident.

Dr Daly showed signs of strain in the witness box as attention moved to the removal of Mr Duddy from the car park and the famous television pictures of him leading the group carrying the slumped body of the youth were played to the hearing.

He told the hearing that while the youth was being carried more shots rang out, forcing the party to change direction.

He had only a vague recollection of an altercation with soldiers at the junction of Harvey Street and Waterloo Street as the teenager's body was set down briefly.

Horrific scene

Once the youth's body was removed, the bishop then tended to other dead and wounded in the Bogside but was unsure how many.

He said: "When I went down there I thought the whole action had been confined to the square. I was just aghast when I went down there and saw what happened."

Later asked by Mr Clarke if he had any sense of danger before the march he replied: "No."

Later Kevin Finnegan QC, acting for next-of-kin, including the relatives of Jack Duddy concluded his examination, saying: "The Duddy family would like to thank you for the care and attention you gave to Jackie that day."

The inquiry, chaired by Lord Saville of Newdigate, has been sitting in public since March last year.

It is likely to spend at least another two years listening to oral evidence.