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Sunday 30 January 1972 stands as one of the deadliest – and consequential – occasions throughout three decades of conflict in Northern Ireland.

Throughout the area where it happened – the legacy of that fateful day are visible on the walls and etched in collective memory.

A civil rights march was organized on a cold but bright day in Londonderry.

The demonstration was a protest against the system of imprisonment without charges – imprisoning people without legal proceedings – which had been established following multiple years of conflict.

Troops from the elite army unit shot dead multiple civilians in the district – which was, and still is, a predominantly republican community.

A specific visual became particularly prominent.

Photographs showed a religious figure, the priest, waving a bloodied cloth while attempting to shield a crowd transporting a young man, the injured teenager, who had been killed.

News camera operators documented considerable film on the day.

Historical records features Father Daly explaining to a media representative that troops "gave the impression they would fire in all directions" and he was "totally convinced" that there was no justification for the gunfire.

That version of the incident was disputed by the original examination.

The first investigation concluded the soldiers had been shot at first.

During the resolution efforts, the administration established another inquiry, after campaigning by surviving kin, who said the first investigation had been a cover-up.

That year, the conclusion by Lord Saville said that generally, the military personnel had fired first and that zero among the individuals had been armed.

The then Prime Minister, the leader, expressed regret in the government chamber – saying deaths were "unjustified and unjustifiable."

Law enforcement commenced examine the matter.

A military veteran, referred to as Soldier F, was brought to trial for homicide.

He was charged regarding the fatalities of one victim, in his twenties, and 26-year-old the second individual.

The accused was further implicated of seeking to harm several people, Joseph Friel, Joe Mahon, an additional individual, and an unnamed civilian.

Exists a legal order maintaining the soldier's anonymity, which his attorneys have claimed is essential because he is at threat.

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

This assertion was dismissed in the concluding document.

Information from the examination would not be used directly as evidence in the criminal process.

In court, the veteran was hidden from public with a blue curtain.

He spoke for the opening instance in the hearing at a session in that month, to answer "innocent" when the accusations were presented.

Family members of the deceased on that day journeyed from the city to the judicial building daily of the case.

John Kelly, whose sibling was died, said they understood that hearing the trial would be painful.

"I remember all details in my mind's eye," he said, as we visited the main locations referenced in the trial – from the location, where Michael was killed, to the adjoining the area, where one victim and another victim were fatally wounded.

"It returns me to my position that day.

"I helped to carry Michael and lay him in the medical transport.

"I relived the entire event during the proceedings.

"Notwithstanding enduring the process – it's still valuable for me."