Inquiry hears of two deaths

The inquiry is sitting at the Guildhall in Londonderry

One of the youngest victims of Bloody Sunday in Londonderry fell to the ground "like a puppet" after he had been shot, the inquiry has been told.

Gerald Donaghy, 17, was hit in the lower abdomen after he fled from British Paratroopers into Glenfada Park North in the Bogside area of the city.

The teenager's death was witnessed by Gerry McCauley, who told the inquiry he had seen Donaghy, who was an orphan, falling close to victim Gerry McKinney.

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

I remember asking him if his mother knew that he was going on a date

Carmel McCallion
Witness

Mr McCauley, who had taken refuge in a nearby house, said neither Mr Donaghy nor Mr McKinney, 35, had their hands in the air when shot.

"I could not see where the shots came from," he said. "They were not doing anything which should have caused them to be shot. They had nothing in their hands and they were not even running.

"When he was shot, the cub (Donaghy) waved his hands in the air, his legs jerked and he fell to the ground. He looked just like a puppet.

"The man went just straight down."

Mr McCauley said he left the house and went out to the fatally injured men.

"I went to the man first who was lying on the steps. He was dead. No-one was with him", he said.

Lord Saville: Heading inquiry

"I moved towards the cub. He was groaning."

Mr McCauley said he and another man lifted Mr Donaghy and carried him towards a nearby house.

Mr Donaghy's body was later photographed by police officers inside a car taking the fatally injured youth to hospital.

Another witness told the inquiry that victim Mickey McDaid was talking about visiting his girlfriend in Buncrana, County Donegal, just minutes before he was shot dead at a rubble barricade in the Bogside's Rossville Street.

Shootings

Carmel McCallion told the inquiry she saw Mr McDaid, 20, just minutes before the paratroopers were deployed into the Bogside.

"He told us that he was going to Buncrana on a date and asked where he could get the bus. I remember asking him if his mother knew that he was going on a date", she said.

Mrs McCallion's husband, Kevin, told the judges he saw four or five men whom he recognised as "alleged members of the IRA" in another area of the Bogside after the shootings had ended.

"I did not see any weapons and the men were standing around talking," he said.

The Bloody Sunday Inquiry, chaired by Lord Saville of Newdigate, was established in 1998 by British Prime Minister Tony Blair after a campaign by families of those killed and injured.

The new inquiry has been sitting in public in Derry's Guildhall 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.