“We’re not finished yet,” said Mickey McKinney outside Belfast Crown Court, minutes after the verdict in the case over his brother William’s killing on 30 January 1972. He added that the families had “taken them to the wire”, and would keep going.

The non‑jury trial ended on Thursday 23 October with the former Parachute Regiment lance corporal, known as Soldier F, found not guilty of the murders of James Wray and William McKinney and five counts of attempted murder. The case ran for five weeks and was heard by Judge Patrick Lynch.

In a stark ruling, the judge said paratroopers who entered Glenfada Park North had “totally lost all sense of military discipline”, shooting unarmed civilians as they fled. “Those responsible should hang their heads in shame,” he said. But the evidence against Soldier F did not meet the criminal standard.

Bloody Sunday left 13 people dead and at least 15 wounded during a civil rights march in Derry’s Bogside. Wray, 22, and McKinney, 27, were among those shot in and around Glenfada Park North, a detail the 2010 Saville Inquiry later examined in depth.

Prosecutors had also charged attempted murder in relation to Joe Mahon (then 16), Michael Quinn (17), Joseph Friel (20), Patrick O’Donnell (41) and a person unknown. Throughout proceedings the defendant remained screened from public view under a long‑standing anonymity order.

The court allowed decades‑old statements from fellow soldiers, labelled G and H, but Mr Justice Lynch found them unreliable. He described the pair as “serially untruthful”, stressing that untested hearsay could not ground a conviction beyond reasonable doubt.

For families, the acquittal cuts deep but does not close the book. Their solicitor, Ciarán Shiels, said there is no right of appeal against the not‑guilty verdict, and signalled a push for prosecutions over alleged perjury linked to earlier inquiries.

Political reaction split along familiar lines. First Minister Michelle O’Neill called the continued denial of justice “deeply disappointing” and “an affront to justice”, while Foyle MP Colum Eastwood praised the dignity of the families. DUP leader Gavin Robinson welcomed what he called “a clear and welcome outcome”.

Veterans’ groups said many former soldiers would be heartened. Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner David Johnstone acknowledged the “deep pain” still felt across communities while noting veterans would welcome the ruling based on precedent in legacy cases.

The verdict lands against a long shadow. The Saville Inquiry concluded in 2010 that those killed posed no threat and that soldiers fired without justification, prompting a formal apology from then prime minister David Cameron. Today’s acquittal does not change those findings.

It also comes as the UK government moves to repeal and replace the widely opposed Legacy Act. Ministers tabled a new Troubles Bill on 14 October promising a fairer route to answers for families alongside six new protections for veterans, after unveiling a joint UK‑Ireland framework in September.

For Derry, the names and places remain close to home: Glenfada Park, Rossville Street, the Bogside memorial. Families from the city-many now into a third generation of campaigning-say their work goes on, even if the criminal route has closed in this case.