Soldiers who opened fire on Bloody Sunday were today branded a "death squad" by a leading lawyer.
Lord Gifford, QC, representing the family of Mr James Wray (22) - who was shot dead in the Bogside as the marchers fled from troops - said he was "murdered by a group of soldiers . . . that we have called a death squad."
He made the damning accusation during his final submission on day 431 of the Saville inquiry into the 1972 killings by paratroopers of 13 people on a civil rights march in Derry.
Mr Wray had been shot once in the back as he fled and once more at close range as he lay on the ground, said Lord Gifford.
He and others fired on were shot "for no other reason than that they were easy targets", he told the inquiry in the Derry's Guildhall.
Each of the four soldiers in the group had offered a pretext for opening fire which had been "contradictory and manifestly false" he added. "They did not fire at people who were either throwing stones or collecting stones."
The lawyer said that if it had been a case of a "squad of underworld hit men shooting members of a rival gang, there would have been no hesitation in a prosecuting authority in charging every member of the squad with the murder of every victim who died."
He questioned when the "common purpose" had been formed to open fire that day and said there had been a sense of anger among the paratroopers sent into the city for the march that the youths of Derry had previously been treated with "undue restraint" by the resident troops.
Lord Gifford said there was a "sense of resolve that the exercise on Bloody Sunday was an opportunity to teach them a lesson," he said.
Mr Wray had been shot once in the back while running away and once more at close range as he lay on the ground trying to move. "That shot was one of the defining moments of that day," said Lord Gifford.
He referred to the words of one of the soldiers during the shooting of Bloody Sunday - 'I have got another one' - and said it was "the triumphant report of a team member who has done what the team expected of him."