PPS issues 'no prosecution' notice in respect of unnotified parade in Londonderry involving Bloody Sunday families

The SDLP MP for Foyle had joined others at the protest ahead of a hearing in the Soldier F case on August 25.

In a statement on Thursday, the PPS said it would not be in the public interest to prosecute the “seven individuals reported in connection with an unnotified procession”.

The PPS said: "After careful consideration of all evidence submitted by police and the full context in which the procession took place, decisions were taken not to prosecute all seven onpublic interest grounds. Public interest factors that were relevant to these decisions included the fact that:

• The procession involved a relatively small number of people and was short in duration;

• The procession was peaceful and caused no public disorder (or any apparent risk of public disorder) and no need for the deployment of any policing resource;

• No harm or damage occurred and there was minimal disruption or inconvenience caused to traffic or the general public; and

• No complaints were made by any members of the local community and there was no other evidence of any negative community impact caused by the procession.”

A PPS spokeswoman said: “It was considered that the conduct of the reported individuals did amount to participation in a public procession and that their procession had not been subject to the legal notification required.

“However, the purpose of having legislative regulation of parades and processions in Northern Ireland is to control public disorder and damage, to minimise disruption to the life of the community and to enhance community

relations. In this particular case, it was clear that the procession investigated did not raise any of those risks and therefore the public interest would not be served by pursuing criminal proceedings.

“This decision was reached impartially, independently and fully in line with the PPS Code for Prosecutors. Each case reported by police is considered carefully taking into account the specific facts and circumstances of thealleged offending. These decisions are therefore fact specific and no indication of a general policy position in relation to the prosecution of unnotified processions or parades.”

Welcoming the PPS decision, Colum Eastwood said: “The people of Derry have been standing with the Bloody Sunday families for over 50 years and nothing will ever change that.

“The PPS decision today is the right one. Families who walked to court together and were joined by their representatives should not have been put through this ordeal on top of 50 years of injustice. I am glad that common sense has at last prevailed.

“This entire process has added more hurt to families who have endured decades of pain. The complaint was completely vexatious and those responsible should be ashamed.

“This episode cannot be allowed to distract from what is truly important – accountability for what happened in Derry on that day. The SDLP will continue to stand by the families as they continue their fight and will be by their side until the very end.”