A witness at the Bloody Sunday inquiry yesterday described an alleged confession by him in which he admitted to the RUC in 1972 that he had opened fire at British soldiers on Bloody Sunday, as "a pack of lies" and "total and absolute rubbish".
The inquiry into the killing of 13 civilians and wounding of 13 others by paratroopers in the Bogside area of Derry during an illegal civil rights march on January 30th, 1972, was thought to have ended its evidential stage last November, after seven years of hearings.
However it reconvened yesterday evening for a special sitting in London to hear the evidence of a witness known as Witness X who was unable to give his evidence last January due to illness.
The hearing was held in the Royal Courts of Justice, but Witness X's evidence was transmitted to the hearing via video-link from a secret location. The security measures were granted to him because he said his job involved him travelling into Loyalist areas of the north-west.
In the RUC interview note, he was recorded as saying he was an IRA member on Bloody Sunday and he had fired at paratroopers as part of a joint operation carried out by both the Provisional and Official IRA.
It recorded him as saying: "I was also in action on Bloody Sunday at Rossville Street. On Bloody Sunday I was using a carbine. It was a joint operation. I was firing from Glenfada . I used two full magazines. I had four mags altogether."
However, he said he did not attend the march and he had "absolutely no knowledge of this interview nor the contents of the note".
After Bloody Sunday he was arrested and asked by police officers about his movements but he was released without charge, he said.
"I have never been a member of the Provisional IRA or the Official IRA and have never been arrested or charged with terrorist offences.
"I agree it is an interview note but the RUC put my name on it. I know nothing about this document," he added.
The inquiry has heard from a total of 922 witnesses. The tribunal is expected to submit its final report to the British Government this summer.