Soldier killed man waving handkerchief, Saville hears

A convicted IRA bomber today told the Saville Inquiry he witnessed a manwaving a white handkerchief being shot dead on Bloody…

A convicted IRA bomber today told the Saville Inquiry he witnessed a manwaving a white handkerchief being shot dead on Bloody Sunday.

Mr Patrick McGlinchey, who was 15 at the time, said there was no possibility theparatrooper who fired the fatal shot could have mistaken the object in BarneyMcGuigan's hand for a weapon.

Mr McGuigan, aged 41, was cut down as he went to the aid of a wounded man inan alleyway at Rossville Flats.

A paratrooper known as Soldier F has admitted to the Inquiry that he killed MrMcGuigan but has denied murder. He told the Inquiry earlier this month that hewas only doing his job on Bloody Sunday.

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Mr McGlinchey in his statement said Mr McGuigan was standing with his back tohim when he was shot.

"He was waving a white handkerchief which I think he was holding in his righthand. There is no way this could have been mistaken for a gun or a bomb," hesaid.

"He said two or three times 'don't shoot'. I could see it very clearly. Iheard a bang. Mr McGuigan crumped and fell sideways. I knew he had been shot."

Questioned by counsel for the Inquiry Alan Roxburgh, Mr McGlinchey admittedthat he had joined the IRA in 1974 and had been sentenced for 12 yearsimprisonment for causing explosions in the centre of Derry.

Earlier a man, who attempted to get medical attention for a Bloody Sunday victim photographed with nail bombs in his pockets, said today told the inquiry he did not see any explosives on the body.

Mr Leo Young, whose younger brother John who died on Bloody Sunday on January 30th, 1972, told the Saville Inquiry that he had come to the aid of 17-year-old Gerard Donaghy, shot in the stomach at Glenfada Park.

Mr Donaghy, a member of the IRA's youth wing, was later found to have four nail bombs in his pockets but his family have claimed they were planted by members of the security forces. Mr Young in his statement to the inquiry, said there was no possibility that Mr Donaghy was in possession of nail bombs when he was shot.

"If there had been nail bombs in his pocket I would have seen them. I saw his body on the ground where he fell, I helped to carry him to the house," he said. "To be honest, if I had seen the nail bombs I doubt whether I would have carried Gerard Donaghy into the house."

Mr Young described how he was shot at by a soldier before he attempted to assist Mr Donaghy.