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Sunday 30 January 1972 remains one of the most fatal – and consequential – days during three decades of violence in this area.

Within the community where events unfolded – the memories of the tragic events are visible on the buildings and embedded in public consciousness.

A civil rights march was organized on a cold but bright period in the city.

The march was a protest against the practice of detention without trial – detaining individuals without legal proceedings – which had been put in place following multiple years of conflict.

Military personnel from the elite army unit fatally wounded multiple civilians in the Bogside area – which was, and remains, a overwhelmingly nationalist community.

A specific visual became notably memorable.

Images showed a clergyman, Father Daly, displaying a stained with blood fabric as he tried to shield a group carrying a young man, the fatally wounded individual, who had been killed.

Media personnel captured extensive video on the day.

Documented accounts features Father Daly informing a journalist that soldiers "appeared to fire in all directions" and he was "totally convinced" that there was no provocation for the gunfire.

That version of what happened was rejected by the initial investigation.

The Widgery Tribunal determined the Army had been attacked first.

In the negotiation period, the ruling party commissioned a new investigation, in response to advocacy by bereaved relatives, who said Widgery had been a whitewash.

In 2010, the conclusion by the investigation said that generally, the paratroopers had initiated shooting and that zero among the victims had been armed.

At that time government leader, David Cameron, apologised in the House of Commons – stating deaths were "unjustified and unjustifiable."

Law enforcement started to investigate the events.

An ex-soldier, referred to as the defendant, was prosecuted for homicide.

Indictments were filed concerning the fatalities of one victim, in his twenties, and in his mid-twenties another victim.

Soldier F was also accused of attempting to murder Patrick O'Donnell, additional persons, Joe Mahon, Michael Quinn, and an unnamed civilian.

There is a judicial decision maintaining the soldier's anonymity, which his legal team have maintained is required because he is at danger.

He testified the investigation that he had exclusively discharged his weapon at people who were armed.

That claim was disputed in the final report.

Information from the inquiry could not be used straightforwardly as evidence in the court case.

In court, the accused was shielded from sight behind a privacy screen.

He addressed the court for the initial occasion in the proceedings at a session in late 2024, to reply "not responsible" when the accusations were read.

Family members of those who were killed on that day journeyed from Derry to Belfast Crown Court daily of the trial.

A family member, whose relative was died, said they always knew that listening to the proceedings would be emotional.

"I remember all details in my memory," John said, as we walked around the key areas referenced in the case – from Rossville Street, where his brother was shot dead, to the nearby the courtyard, where James Wray and the second person were died.

"It returns me to where I was that day.

"I participated in moving the victim and place him in the vehicle.

"I went through every moment during the testimony.

"But even with enduring everything – it's still meaningful for me."