A NEW legal attempt to challenge the findings of the Bloody Sunday inquiry is due to get under way in the High Court in Belfast next week.
A sister of one of the 14 victims has applied for a judicial review of the inquiry held by Lord Widgery, the then Lord Chief Justice of England. The case cannot proceed until leave is granted. Mr Justice Kerr will hear legal submissions on February 26th.
The application has been brought by Ms Mary Doherty, whose 17 year old brother, Gerard Donaghy, died when soldiers opened fire.
As well as seeking an order to quash the Widgery findings, Ms Doherty also wants a declaration that the tribunal failed to act fairly or in accordance with the rules of natural justice.
Her application claims the tribunal was "tainted with bias" and that Lord Widgery failed to consider a large body of relevant eyewitness statements.
Ms Doherty also claims the tribunal failed to consider substantial material discrepancies between the undisclosed accounts of the soldiers and the "sanitised versions" presented to it.
The application is supported by an affidavit by Ms Jane Winter, a director of British Irish Rights Watch, a London based organisation which monitors Northern Ireland events.
Her sworn statement refers to the 700 eyewitness accounts not considered by Lord Widgery and recent research, including medical and ballistics evidence, which suggests a cover up.
At least three of the victims are now believed to have been shot by soldiers operating from Derry's Walls - a claim rejected by Lord Widgery, who said all the shooting was done by paratroopers operating at ground level.
Ms Winter's affidavit refers to a report entitled Bloody Sunday Tribunal of Inquiry: A Resounding Defeat for Truth, Justice and the Rule of Law. The report was prepared by Prof Dermot, Walsh, a law lecturer at the University of Limerick.