A former British paratrooper told the Saville Inquiry today that he was not interested in finding out who he had shot dead on Bloody Sunday.
Soldier U, giving evidence at Central Hall at Westminster said he killed a gunman during the Civil Rights march in Derry on January 30th, 1972 when 13 unarmed civilians were shot dead by soldiers.
Asked by Arthur Harvey QC whether he was prepared to assist in finding out the identity of the person he had shot, he replied: "I am not interested".
In his statement to the inquiry, the former soldier described how he spotted the gunman among a group of people walking quickly towards Rossville Flats close to the Rubble Barricade.
At least four of the dead were shot dead at or close to this barricade during the march.
"Quite suddenly, a guy in the middle of the group stopped quickly to face the Rubble Barricade, pulled out a pistol, raised the pistol in both hands as if trying to get a sight and fired two quick shots," the soldier said in his statement.
He added: "I fired one single aimed shot at the gunman. I aimed at the centre of his body and I hit him centrally somewhere.
"He went down immediately. I still have a horrible mental picture of him falling. He was not thrown backwards. It was as if his legs and everything gave way and he just dropped to the floor like a felled ox."
He rejected an accusation from Mr Harvey that his evidence was a deliberate attempt to obscure the circumstances in which he had shot his victim.
Mr Harvey pointed out that no other soldier has been able to corroborate his account of what happened.
"What I want to suggest to you, firstly, is that; as a person who was not interested in seeking to establish the truth of what happened, you at least had the comfort of knowing that there was not one other soldier who would contradict what you were saying."
The soldier in his statement also said he saw a gunman appear from a doorway at Rossville Flats and shoot two civilians at the Rubble Barricade. He said the gunman blindly fired two rounds in quick succession, injuring an old man in the arm at the Rubble Barricade. He said one of the bullets appeared to strike a young man standing nearby.
PA