Lawyers representing Martin McGuinness at the Bloody Sunday Inquiry are to be denied the opportunity to cross-examine the man who alleges Mr McGuinness fired the first IRA shot on the day.
The Inquiry - sitting in London and chaired by Lord Saville of Newdigate - ruled today that a former British agent codenamed 'Infliction' will not be called to give evidence to the inquiry for security reasons and because to do so would be a breach of his human rights.
'Infliction', who was a member of the Provisional IRA supplying information to MI5, had claimed that Martin McGuinness had admitted that he had fired the first shot on Bloody Sunday using a Thompson sub machine gun on single shot.
Mr McGuinness - in a written statement to the Inquiry - has already denied making any such admisson. However the Inquiry today ruled that to call Infliction, who is overseas, to give evidence would be in breach of his rights under Article 2 of the Human Rights Act.
The ruling means that lawyers representing Martin McGuinness will not be able to cross-examine the former agent in person. In their written ruling issued today, the Inquiry judges said: 'thus there is an issue as to whether Mr McGuinness did fire a shot that day'.
The inquiry judges have yet to state publicy whether Martin McGuinness did fire a shot.
Lord Carrington gives evidenceEarlier, the British Defence Secretary at the time of Bloody Sunday told the Saville Inquiry sitting in London that his government would never have agreed to any course of action which involved the deliberate loss of civilian life.
Beginning his evidence this morning, Lord Carrington denied that the British government had ever agreed that selective ringleaders amongst rioters in Derry should be shot by British soldiers.
Questioned by Counsel for the Inquiry, Lord Carrington denied that the idea had ever been current in British government circles.
Lord Carrington also said he had not been aware of British military plans to adapt weapons to fire .22 rounds.
In a statement to the Tribunal, Lord Carrington said that 'things in Northern Ireland started getting even worse between Autumn 1971 to January 1972 and we were all very worried about the no-go areas in Londonderry'.
Lord Carrington, in his statement to the Tribunal, also said that there was never any real disagreement between the Westminster and Stormont governments.
He had, however, suspected that the Northern Ireland government of Major Chichester-Clarke thought the British Government were not tough and aggresive enough.
