Key statements made by a number of soldiers on the ground during the Bloody Sunday shootings can be used as evidence in the trial of a former paratrooper, a judge has ruled.

Soldier F, who cannot be identified, is accused of murdering James Wray and William McKinney on 30 January 1972.

Judge Patrick Lynch, who is presiding over the non-jury trial at Belfast Crown Court, granted an application by the prosecution to admit a number of statements made by other soldiers who were at the time in Londonderry, which is also known as Derry.

These statements include claims the accused veteran fired shots in the courtyard where the two men he is accused of killing were shot.

In making the application at the court last week, the prosecution had characterised the evidence as "decisive" to the case.

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