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Sunday 30 January 1972 stands as one of the most deadly – and significant – days during three decades of violence in this area.

Throughout the area where it happened – the images of that fateful day are displayed on the structures and embedded in collective memory.

A civil rights march was conducted on a chilly yet clear afternoon in the city.

The demonstration was opposing the policy of detention without trial – holding suspects without due process – which had been put in place following an extended period of unrest.

Military personnel from the elite army unit shot dead 13 people in the Bogside area – which was, and continues to be, a overwhelmingly Irish nationalist area.

A particular photograph became notably iconic.

Pictures showed a Catholic priest, Father Daly, waving a bloodied cloth while attempting to defend a assembly carrying a teenager, the injured teenager, who had been killed.

Media personnel recorded extensive video on the day.

Historical records includes Father Daly explaining to a media representative that soldiers "appeared to discharge weapons randomly" and he was "absolutely certain" that there was no provocation for the shooting.

That version of events was rejected by the first inquiry.

The Widgery Tribunal concluded the soldiers had been fired upon initially.

Throughout the negotiation period, Tony Blair's government commissioned a new investigation, after campaigning by bereaved relatives, who said Widgery had been a inadequate investigation.

That year, the findings by the inquiry said that generally, the paratroopers had initiated shooting and that none of the individuals had been armed.

The then Prime Minister, David Cameron, apologised in the government chamber – stating fatalities were "improper and inexcusable."

Law enforcement began to examine the matter.

An ex-soldier, referred to as Soldier F, was prosecuted for murder.

Accusations were made over the killings of one victim, twenty-two, and twenty-six-year-old another victim.

The accused was also accused of trying to kill Patrick O'Donnell, additional persons, more people, another person, and an unknown person.

There is a court ruling maintaining the defendant's privacy, which his attorneys have claimed is necessary because he is at risk of attack.

He stated to the Saville Inquiry that he had only fired at individuals who were carrying weapons.

The statement was disputed in the official findings.

Evidence from the examination would not be used straightforwardly as testimony in the legal proceedings.

In court, the defendant was screened from view using a protective barrier.

He spoke for the initial occasion in the hearing at a session in December 2024, to reply "innocent" when the charges were presented.

Relatives of the victims on that day travelled from the city to the courthouse daily of the trial.

John Kelly, whose sibling was fatally wounded, said they were aware that listening to the case would be difficult.

"I visualize all details in my mind's eye," he said, as we walked around the main locations discussed in the trial – from Rossville Street, where the victim was fatally wounded, to the adjacent the courtyard, where the individual and the second person were died.

"It even takes me back to my location that day.

"I helped to carry my brother and lay him in the ambulance.

"I relived every moment during the evidence.

"But even with having to go through the process – it's still valuable for me."