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They were reacting to the fact that the government has now confirmed the former lance corporal in the Parachute Regiment has been given £4.3m in legal support – and that this figure may yet rise once final calculations are done. He was found not guilty of two murders and five attempted murders in Londonderry following a judge-only trial at Belfast Crown Court on October 23. It ended seven years of legal proceedings against him. Thirteen people were fatally shot, and at least as many were shot and wounded, when members of the Parachute Regiment opened fire following a civil rights demonstration in the city in January 1972. Judge Patrick Lynch said the evidence presented against the veteran fell “well short” of what was required for conviction. Minister for Veterans and People Alistair Cairns revealed the £4.3m figure following a parliamentary question asked by Colum Eastwood, SDLP MP for Foyle. Solicitor Ciaran Shiels, of Madden and Finucane – who supports some of the Bloody Sunday families – called it an “obscene amount of public money”. Mr Eastwood himself described the level of funding for Soldier F as “sick”. The BBC quoted Mr Eastwood as adding that “this guy, who's been a protected species for 53 years, is getting millions of our money spent on him" whereas bereaved families “had no support at all from the government” during the proceedings. Responding to news of the sum, the TUV issued a statement saying: “It should come as no surprise that the legal bill to defend this innocent man is so high, given the long-running saga around the case. "Anyone who believes in justice will accept that Soldier F had the right to a defence. "Many victims will note the fact that the complaints about the cost of the defence are coming from the same people who had no issue with the £200m cost of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry." UUP MLA Doug Beattie told Radio Ulster: “It is a huge amount of money – as was the £192m spent on the Saville Inquiry.” He went on to add: "It's right that the MoD defend the person that they sent. They trained, they sent, and they commanded and they planned this, remember: they sent him out there." He added that "how do you say you can't spend money if you're going to mount a defence?" DUP MLA for Foyle Gary Middleton told the News Letter: “The people now decrying the cost of defending Soldier F were silent when £192m was spent on the Bloody Sunday Inquiry. That hypocrisy says it all. "Veterans who served our country deserve support when faced with legal action. "This case was always likely to fail, and those who pushed it must have known that. "Complaining about the cost now is nothing short of ironic.” The Saville Inquiry ran from 1998 to 2010, and found that none of those who were shot in 1972 had posed any threat, and that soldiers had lied about their actions on the day. Veterans minister Mr Cairns told parliament that “Soldier F has received legal and welfare support throughout his legal proceedings at public expense”. “The legal fees associated with these proceedings (including associated judicial reviews) amount to £4.3m, which may rise marginally once final bills are received." He added: “Other costs associated with the support of Soldier F, such as pastoral care, arrangement and payment of travel and accommodation, et cetera, are met from a central budget and involve the time of various employees for which a specific cost cannot be calculated.”
