Apology for Bloody Sunday accusations

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A former British Army intelligence officer yesterday apologised to the Bloody Sunday inquiry for claiming, hours after the shooting of 13 unarmed civilians, that four of the dead were wanted IRA terrorist suspects.

Maurice Tugwell, then Colonel General Staff (Information Policy) at Headquarters Northern Ireland, said he made the claim in a radio interview after seeking "oral" intelligence checks on the victims.

Col Tugwell went as an observer to the march in Londonderry on 30 January 1972, taking a camera with him.

Yesterday he told the inquiry chaired by Lord Saville in London: "Later, I am not sure when, I discovered that the allegation that four men were on a wanted list could not be sustained. I apologise for this error." The inquiry continues.

* A senior detective is to head a fresh investigation into one of Northern Ireland's worst terrorist atrocities. Chief Inspector Pat Steele's inquiry will examine claims that a Catholic priest, Father Jim Chesney, was in charge of an IRA unit that planted a car bomb in Claudy, near Londonderry, in July 1972 which killed six adults and three children. Fr Chesney is claimed to have confessed to another priest shortly after the attack. He died of cancer in 1980.