A former British paratrooper admitted today that an army statement he signed shortly after Bloody Sunday was inaccurate.
But Soldier 037 denied he lied in the statement in order to support accounts given by other paratroopers about what happened in Derry on January 30th, 1972.
The former private in the Parachute Regiment told the Saville Inquiry in London he did not remember making a statement to Royal Military Police, which he signed five days after the shootings.
Soldier 037 said the statement, in which he described seeing a civilian shot by a man armed with a pistol from the Rossville Flats, did not reflect his current memories of the day 13 civil rights marchers were shot dead by soldiers. A 14th man died later.
Soldier 037 said it was possible the information in his statement could have come from the RMP investigator, or from what he was told by other soldiers.
He said the position given in the statement, which placed him at the corner of Block 1 of the Rossville Flats looking towards a rubble barricade on Rossville Street, was "definitely wrong".
Soldier 037 also admitted today he did not see a civilian shot by a pistolman in the Rossville Flats, or an armoured vehicle from his unit picking up three bodies at the rubble barricade.
The former soldier told Mr Barry MacDonald, QC, representing most of the families of the dead and wounded, he had never seen the statement before he was shown it by solicitors to the inquiry several years ago.
Mr MacDonald asked: "Do you accept, first of all, that none of the details in this statement could have come from you?"
"Absolutely," replied the soldier.
Mr MacDonald asked: "Assuming that no-one else was present at your interview apart from yourself and the RMP investigator, it must have come from the RMP investigator, is that not right?"
"It certainly did not come from me," he replied.
Mr MacDonald asked: "Therefore it must have come from the RMP investigator?"
"I would say that, yes," he replied.
Mr MacDonald asked: "You would say that?"
"Yes," he replied.
Soldier 037 told Lord Saville he was sure he had not seen the things which were in his statement. He said the information may have come from what he was told by other soldiers.
PA