Man shot 'with hands in air'

The inquiry is sitting at the Guildhall in Londonderry

A man has said he saw his brother-in-law being shot dead with his hands in the air in Londonderry on Bloody Sunday.

John O'Kane was giving evidence to the Bloody Sunday Inquiry in the Guildhall in Derry on Wednesday.

The inquiry is examining the events of 30 January 1972 when 13 civilians were shot dead by British paratroopers during a civil rights march. A 14th person died later.

Mr O'Kane said he and Gerard McKinney had left the place where they were taking cover.

British soldiers in Derry on Bloody Sunday

His brother-in-law put his hands in the air and shouted, "Don't shoot!" before being shot.

Mr O'Kane also said that Gerard Donaghy was then shot nearby.

He said he saw another victim, Jim Wray, lying on the ground and calling for help before he was hit by another bullet.

On Tuesday, a man applying to give evidence to the inquiry anonymously denied he was an IRA member who fired shots in Londonderry that day.

The tribunal heard his application to give evidence anonymously behind screens.

The man, known as Witness X, said his name and face was known to many people and he could be killed by republican or loyalist paramilitaries if his identity was revealed.

Lord Saville: Heading inquiry

The tribunal is not expected to make a decision on the application until next week.

Meanwhile, two High Court judges in London are considering whether it is fair and lawful to ask 36 former and serving soldiers to travel to Northern Ireland to give evidence.

The soldiers are challenging the tribunal's ruling that they must travel to Derry because they say they fear they will be in danger from attack.

Widgery

The soldiers have always argued that they were fired on by IRA men before they opened fire, but this is disputed by many witnesses and relatives of those killed and injured.

The Bloody Sunday Inquiry was established in 1998 by Prime Minister Tony Blair after a campaign by families of those killed and injured.

They felt that the Widgery Inquiry, held shortly after the shootings, did not find out the truth about what happened on Bloody Sunday.

The new inquiry has been sitting in public for more than a year and is expected to run for another two years.

Witnesses to the inquiry are immune from prosecution on issues arising from their evidence. It is aimed solely at establishing the facts of what happened.