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Sunday 30 January 1972 is remembered as among the most fatal – and momentous – dates during three decades of violence in the region.

Within the community where it happened – the legacy of Bloody Sunday are painted on the walls and etched in collective memory.

A protest demonstration was held on a chilly yet clear afternoon in the city.

The march was opposing the practice of internment – detaining individuals without legal proceedings – which had been implemented following multiple years of unrest.

Troops from the Parachute Regiment fatally wounded 13 people in the district – which was, and still is, a strongly nationalist population.

A specific visual became notably iconic.

Pictures showed a Catholic priest, the priest, using a blood-stained white handkerchief in his effort to protect a crowd carrying a youth, the fatally wounded individual, who had been fatally wounded.

Media personnel documented extensive video on the day.

The archive features the priest explaining to a journalist that troops "appeared to discharge weapons randomly" and he was "absolutely certain" that there was no justification for the gunfire.

That version of what happened was rejected by the original examination.

The Widgery Tribunal concluded the Army had been shot at first.

In the peace process, the administration set up a fresh examination, after campaigning by bereaved relatives, who said the initial inquiry had been a whitewash.

That year, the findings by the inquiry said that overall, the soldiers had discharged weapons initially and that not one of the casualties had posed any threat.

The contemporary head of state, the leader, issued an apology in the government chamber – saying fatalities were "improper and inexcusable."

Authorities began to look into the events.

One former paratrooper, identified as the accused, was brought to trial for murder.

Indictments were filed concerning the killings of the first individual, 22, and twenty-six-year-old another victim.

The defendant was further implicated of seeking to harm several people, additional persons, more people, another person, and an unnamed civilian.

Exists a judicial decision preserving the defendant's privacy, which his legal team have argued is necessary because he is at risk of attack.

He testified the investigation that he had only fired at individuals who were carrying weapons.

That claim was rejected in the official findings.

Material from the inquiry could not be used directly as testimony in the court case.

In court, the accused was hidden from public behind a blue curtain.

He spoke for the first time in the hearing at a session in December 2024, to respond "not guilty" when the charges were put to him.

Kin of the deceased on Bloody Sunday journeyed from Londonderry to the judicial building each day of the case.

One relative, whose relative was fatally wounded, said they always knew that hearing the case would be difficult.

"I visualize all details in my recollection," he said, as we walked around the primary sites mentioned in the trial – from the street, where Michael was fatally wounded, to the adjacent Glenfada Park, where one victim and another victim were killed.

"It reminds me to where I was that day.

"I assisted with my brother and put him in the ambulance.

"I experienced again each detail during the evidence.

"But even with experiencing the process – it's still worthwhile for me."