A soldier who described in great detail to UTV's Insight programme team how he shot a man on Bloody Sunday subsequently denied to the inquiry's solicitors that he was in Derry on the day, and then phoned again to assert he was there but had been silenced, the inquiry heard yesterday.
Mr Christopher Clarke QC, for the tribunal, informed the hearing this man had told the inquiry, through a firm of solicitors, that he had no wish to voluntarily provide a statement about what he knows concerning the events of Bloody Sunday.
Mr Clarke said this soldier, who was in the Mortar Platoon of Support Company of 1 Para, had given dramatically contradictory evidence at various stages and now says he will not voluntarily give any evidence, "a matter we shall have to take further in due course".
The soldier is said to be from Northern Ireland and has been identified only as Soldier 2003 for the inquiry.
Counsel described how this man gave a statement to the makers of an Insight programme in 1998 to the effect that he was the man who shot 17-year-old Jack Duddy in the Rossville flats carpark.
However, when he was interviewed by Eversheds, the inquiry's solicitors, last December he said he had not been in Derry on January 30th, 1972 - "In fact I have never been to Londonderry in my life. I would be concerned if people said that I was there."
However, over the period of last Christmas he phoned an associate solicitor at Eversheds, Miss Sara de Tute, several times.
In the last call, on January 6th, he said he was in Derry on the day as no one was put on leave.
Miss de Tute's note of the conversation goes on: "The only reason he said he was not there is because what he did that day was rather insensitive (he did not expand upon this) and it was decided by the powers that be that it was best that everyone thought he was not there so he would not have to give evidence to Widgery. He would give us more details when we meet again."
Mr Clarke said the statement this man gave to the UTV programme team contained a number of important matters which, if correct, were highly significant.
The tribunal solicitors have been in correspondence with a firm of solicitors in Bolton, who confirmed last January that they had been instructed to act for this soldier.
On January 20th the Bolton solicitors wrote to the effect that they had obtained further instructions from the man, and that he confirmed making a telephone call to Miss de Tute on January 6th.
The solicitors' letter continued: "2003 informs us that he was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the telephone call and believes that due to his state of intoxication together with his Irish accent his comments have either been misheard or certainly misunderstood . . . (He) is adamant that he was not present in Londonderry on 30th January 1972 . . ."
Mr Clarke informed the hearing that a note prepared by a Derry solicitor of a conversation with this man in November 1999 had been produced to the inquiry.
The note said he claimed to have been on duty in Derry on Bloody Sunday. "He states that he saw the platoon sergeant of the Mortar Platoon shoot six people.
"He states that he saw [name withheld] shoot a man in Glenfada Park in the hip and when he was on the ground he emptied a magazine into his head.
"He further states that there were two SAS men firing from the observation post on Derry's walls with 7.62 sniper rifles . . . He states that he was approached by [name withheld] within the last number of months and was threatened . . . The same person showed him documents relating to the inquiry . . . and warned him not to come forward further to give evidence."
Mr Clarke also said the tribunal had a list of those soldiers who were members of the several platoons of Support Company as of February 3rd, 1972.
There was also a copy of the same document with deletions, certain names and numbers of soldiers crossed out.
This document constituted a certificate by Maj Ted Loden (OC of Support Company) of who was present on January 30th, 1972.
"On that document, Inquiry 2003, namely this witness of whom I speak, is crossed out, thereby signifying that Maj Loden says he was not present on Bloody Sunday."