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January 30th, 1972 remains among the most deadly – and consequential – dates throughout three decades of violence in the region.

In the streets where events unfolded – the memories of the tragic events are displayed on the buildings and embedded in people's minds.

A civil rights march was organized on a chilly yet clear day in the city.

The demonstration was a protest against the system of detention without trial – holding suspects without trial – which had been put in place following multiple years of violence.

Military personnel from the Parachute Regiment shot dead multiple civilians in the Bogside area – which was, and remains, a strongly Irish nationalist community.

One image became particularly memorable.

Pictures showed a Catholic priest, Father Daly, waving a bloodied cloth in his effort to shield a group carrying a teenager, the fatally wounded individual, who had been mortally injured.

News camera operators documented extensive video on the day.

The archive features Father Daly informing a media representative that soldiers "gave the impression they would discharge weapons randomly" and he was "totally convinced" that there was no justification for the shooting.

The narrative of the incident was disputed by the original examination.

The first investigation determined the soldiers had been attacked first.

Throughout the negotiation period, Tony Blair's government commissioned another inquiry, after campaigning by surviving kin, who said the initial inquiry had been a cover-up.

That year, the report by the investigation said that generally, the military personnel had initiated shooting and that none of the casualties had posed any threat.

The contemporary government leader, the Prime Minister, expressed regret in the Parliament – stating deaths were "without justification and unjustifiable."

The police started to examine the incident.

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

Indictments were filed over the killings of James Wray, in his twenties, and twenty-six-year-old William McKinney.

Soldier F was also accused of trying to kill several people, other civilians, more people, an additional individual, and an unidentified individual.

Remains a judicial decision preserving the veteran's anonymity, which his legal team have argued is essential because he is at threat.

He testified the investigation that he had only fired at individuals who were possessing firearms.

This assertion was rejected in the final report.

Information from the examination would not be used immediately as proof in the criminal process.

In court, the defendant was screened from view using a privacy screen.

He spoke for the first time in the hearing at a session in that month, to reply "not responsible" when the allegations were presented.

Relatives of the victims on that day travelled from the city to the judicial building daily of the case.

John Kelly, whose relative was fatally wounded, said they were aware that hearing the case would be painful.

"I remember the events in my memory," the relative said, as we walked around the key areas discussed in the case – from Rossville Street, where his brother was killed, to the nearby Glenfada Park, where one victim and William McKinney were killed.

"It returns me to where I was that day.

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

"I experienced again each detail during the evidence.

"Despite experiencing all that – it's still meaningful for me."