A brother of one of the 13 unarmed civilians shot in Derry on Bloody Sunday said yesterday he still could not come to terms with his brother's death. Mr Leo Young said he learned of his brother John's death, and of the deaths of 12 other civilians, the day after the killings.
Mr Young, who was aged 26 on Bloody Sunday, said he was arrested immediately after the shootings and held overnight by the police in Ballykelly.
On his release the following day, he said a constable asked him how many brothers he had. "I said two and he said 'you only have one now'. I now understand that. He said it in a cheeky way and I did not understand what he meant, it didn't register with me."
Mr Young said he went on the anti-internment march that day with his older brother Patrick and younger brother John, who was shot dead by a British paratrooper. Following his release from custody the day after the killings, he decided to go home.
"I remember that when I was walking home there were lots of people milling about talking. I had no idea that 13 people had been shot and that one of them was my brother John. When I reached Blucher Street a boy I knew stopped his car and said he would run me home. I said it didn't matter but he said 'No, I will'.
"He didn't tell me that John had been shot. He left me at the house and Patrick came running out. I could see the look on Patrick's face. I said 'don't tell me' and he said 'John's been shot'.
"There was pandemonium in the house. I couldn't believe what had happened and still cannot believe it," said Mr Young.
"If he had been doing something wrong when he was shot, it would, in some ways, have been his own fault, but I know that he wasn't. John was just not the sort of person to get involved in trouble."The inquiry was adjourned until Monday.