Rioters were held "directly responsible" for the deaths on Bloody Sunday in an RUC document signed on behalf of the chief constable at the time, the Saville Inquiry heard today.
The letter was written to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in Belfast on April 28 1972, more than two weeks after the conclusion of the original Widgery Inquiry.
"While it is accepted that the prosecutions against any or all of the individuals concerned will undoubtedly bring the events of January 30 1972 once again to the forefront in Londonderry, it is nevertheless patently obvious that the law was flouted on that date by a large number of the hooligan element in the city who deliberately provoked a riot and were directly responsible for causing the death and serious injuries which resulted from that riot," it said.
Lawyers for those killed and wounded have claimed that those taken prisoner that day could never have been properly identified as troublemakers and have alleged the army's real plan was to teach the people of Derry a lesson.
The inquiry was adjourned until Monday February 26.