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The information was released to the Foyle MP by Labour Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces Al Carns in response to a parliamentary question. The costs cover the period from the initial charges of murder and attempted murder brought against the British army paratrooper in March 2019 and the associated judicial review of the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) decision not to prosecute. The figure of £4.3m, said Mr. Eastwood, does not include ‘pastoral care, travel and accommodation’, which was not disclosed. Last week Soldier F was found not guilty of murdering James Wray and William McKinney and attempting to murder Michael Quinn, Patrick O’Donnell, Joseph Friel, Joe Mahon and an unknown person on January 30, 1972. But Mr. Eastwood said the level of public money spent defending the case was ‘sick’. “Soldier F came to Derry as part of a regiment that shot and killed innocent civil rights protestors as they ran for their lives. “In spite of the clear conclusions of Lord [Mark] Saville, which I would again encourage everyone to read in detail, the British Government has spent £4.3m of our money to defend Soldier F over the last six years. "The premium that is placed on defending soldiers... is an insult to victims who are left to fight for truth and justice alone. It is sick,” he declared. Delivering his judgment and acquitting Soldier F, Judge Patrick Lynch said the statements by two of his colleagues, Soldiers G and H, admitted as hearsay evidence and relied upon by the prosecution, fell ‘well short’ of the standard required to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. “Whatever suspicions the court may have about the role of F, this court is constrained and limited by the evidence properly presented before it,” he said. Mark Savile, in his 2010 report identified ‘Corporal E, Lance Corporal F, Private G and Private H as the soldiers who went into Glenfada Park North, between them killing William McKinney and Jim Wray, injuring Joe Mahon, Joe Friel, Michael Quinn and Patrick O’Donnell, and possibly injuring Daniel Gillespie’. "All claimed that they had identified and shot at people in possession of or seeking to use bombs or firearms. In our view none of these soldiers fired in the belief that he had or might have identified a person in possession of or using or about to use bombs or firearms. "William McKinney and Jim Wray were both shot in the back and none of the other casualties (with the possible exception of Daniel Gillespie) appears to have been facing the soldiers when shot,” he concluded. Mr. Eastwood, reacting to the expenditure of almost five million pounds defending Soldier F, referred to the perjury of Soldiers G and H. "It is worth remembering, if these soldiers had told the truth they would have been able to rely on the Attorney General’s assurance in respect of self-incrimination. None of this money, our money, would have been spent to defend their actions and their perjury. It is a double injustice.” "The people of Derry will never leave the Bloody Sunday families and the wounded to fight alone. We are still with them and will never abandon them,” he stated. In his judgment last week Mr. Justice Lynch said: “I hold that the witnesses have told lies about the events on several occasions. This includes committing perjury, twice in the case of H, to Widgery and Saville and once in the case of G to Widgery.” In response to Mr. Eastwood’s question about the cost of the case to the public purse, Mr. Carn stated: “The Ministry of Defence is committed to supporting veterans and their families. As part of this, 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 £4.3 million, which may rise marginally once final bills are received." "These costs cover the period from when Soldier F was initially charged in March 2019. This includes costs associated with the Judicial Review leading to the PPS recommencing proceedings in 2022. "Legal representation has been provided by the same experienced legal team since the Saville Inquiry, supplemented by leading solicitors and barristers, including King's Counsel, based in Northern Ireland. “Other costs associated with the support of Soldier F, such as pastoral care, arrangement and payment of travel and accommodation, etc, are met from a central budget and involve the time of various employees for which a specific cost cannot be calculated.” In his judgement, Mr. Justice Lynch said: “Soldiers G, H, F and E were part of the initial group of soldiers who entered the square and were responsible for the deaths and woundings. They had totally lost all sense of military discipline." "They were members of a regiment formed in 1942, at the behest of Prime Minister Churchill, and had a proud record in World War Two. Perhaps most notably in Operation Market Garden in the, ultimately failed, attempt to capture bridges over the river Rhine which would, in all likelihood, have foreshortened the war if successful. "Those who fought valiantly against SS Panzer Divisions in 1944, have had their Regiment sullied by some of their successors, shooting in the back unarmed civilians fleeing from them in the streets of a British city. Those responsible should hang their heads in shame.”
