Forensic results which linked some of those killed on Bloody Sunday to the use of firearms were "worthless", the Bloody Sunday Tribunal heard today.
Dr John Lloyd, an independent expert commissioned by the Saville Inquiry to examine tests carried out at the time, was critical of many of the original scientific findings.
In a report submitted to the Saville Inquiry, Dr Lloyd claimed lead traces found on the hands or clothing of some of the 13 civilian civil rights marchers killed on January 30th, 1972 should not have raised a "strong suspicion" that they had used or were close to those using guns.
Dr Lloyd appeared at the Guildhall in Derry today after inspecting the original laboratory files compiled by Dr John Martin and Mr Alan Hall in the wake of Bloody Sunday.
He accepted that Dr Martin detected particles of lead on the hands or clothing of some of the deceased. However, he insisted that apart from firearms residue, "lead occurs widely in many different items".
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These included car exhausts, plumbing, paintwork, glazing and fishing tackle, he added.
Dr Lloyd did accept that some of the particles detected by Dr Martin would have been "firearms-derived".
However, he added: "The overall distributions of the particles on the deceased cannot be accounted for on an assumption that they had been using firearms."
In a complex report, Dr Lloyd said there was a number of possible sources of contamination by lead particles on Bloody Sunday.
Dr Lloyd was critical of Dr Martin's failure to use adequate controls during forensic tests, branding them as "unacceptable".
PA