THE BLOODY SUNDAY INQUIRY/Day 223: The artistic ability of paramilitary organisations was raised at the inquiry yesterday as part of an argument by counsel that a British soldier who fired a large number of shots in Derry on Bloody Sunday should be allowed to give evidence from behind a screen.
The idea that a terrorist organisation might set out to trace an anonymous military witness by sketching his likeness or compiling a photo-fit drawing of him was described by the chairman, Lord Saville, as "really a rather fanciful suggestion".
Sir Allan Green QC made an application on behalf of a paratrooper, identified only as Soldier H, for an order that he should be screened from the public and that his photograph should not be taken when he gives evidence to the inquiry at a venue in Westminster.
Sir Allan noted that his client was a central figure in Glenfada Park, where some of the most serious allegations in regard to the Bloody Sunday killings featured. In the report of the Widgery Inquiry in 1972, the evidence of Soldier H was criticised and Lord Widgery said that 19 of the 22 shots he admitted firing were "wholly unaccounted for".
Lord Saville yesterday noted that a recent document from the Ministry of Defence, submitted as part of Sir Allan's application, commented that: "It would clearly be possible for a member of a terrorist group who sat in the public gallery either to sketch a likeness of the former soldier or compile a photo-fit-type drawing shortly afterwards."
He asked if counsel was "seriously suggesting" that, around or inside the hall at Westminster, some paramilitary member or sympathiser would "sit solemnly" with a sketch pad and draw a witness. Would he draw all 500 soldiers or just H, Lord Saville asked.
Sir Allan submitted that "terrorist organisations are very tenacious . . . it is not fanciful at all to say that they may recruit . . . a portrait artist who is very good at rendering the details of a person's face". The chairman suggested it could be arranged to have a security officer, "or indeed, if they like, a member of the Ministry of Defence" present to make sure nobody did that.
The tribunal will rule shortly on this application and on a similar one on behalf of Soldier 104. On Tuesday, for "most compelling" but confidential reasons, it agreed to grant screening to two military witnesses, but Lord Saville said these were "exceptional cases".