The number of identified gunshot casualties around the courtyard area behind Rossville Flats on Bloody Sunday does not tally with the number of "hits" claimed by soldiers in their accounts of their firing, the inquiry heard yesterday.
This discrepancy was remarked upon by counsel to the tribunal, Mr Christopher Clarke QC, as he outlined the army and civilian evidence concerning the shooting.
The soldiers, in their statements, described at least seven "hits" resulting from their firing in this area, but Mr Clarke said it appeared that just one fatal victim, Jack Duddy, and four wounded can be definitely associated with this firing.
Among these casualties there were some who were impossible to reconcile with the soldiers' accounts of whom they shot - for example, Mrs Margaret Deery, who was shot in the thigh.
None of the soldiers admitted shooting a woman.
Mr Clarke outlined the civilian casualties in this sector of the events, which he designated Sector 2 and which concerns what happened immediately after units of the 1st Battalion of the parachute regiment entered the Bogside.
Jack Duddy, aged 17, who was shot dead, was hit in the right shoulder by a bullet which exited through his chest; Michael Bradley suffered severe gunshot wounds to his right and left forearms and to his chest; Michael Bridge was shot in the left thigh; Margaret Deery was wounded in the left thigh and suffered a fractured femur.
She received an emergency blood transfusion which turned out to be incompatible and she suffered renal failure.
Although she recovered from this she has since died; Patrick McDaid was wounded on the back of his left shoulder.
Mr Clarke said it was also possible that Patrick Doherty was shot in the Rossville flats carpark, although he died to the south of the flats.
Apart from those wounded by gunshots, Alana Burke was struck by a Saracen armoured vehicle which entered the car-park.
If the soldiers' account was true, and their assessment accurate on whether they hit, the question arose as to what happened to those who were hit, said Mr Clarke.
He said the possibilities appeared to include, firstly, that some of those hit were not in fact seriously wounded and were not treated in hospital, that some were taken to Letterkenny hospital, or that some of those hit were killed and taken for burial elsewhere.
Counsel quoted statements from Letterkenny hospital medical and nursing staff which said no patients were treated there for gunshot wounds on Bloody Sunday or immediately afterwards.
The retired county surgeon for Co Donegal, Mr Joseph Hanley, said in his statement that on rare occasions injured people were brought from Derry for treatment in the aftermath of civil disturbances.
He added: "I would say that there were approximately 10 or a dozen cases of patients with gunshot wounds from Derry and the surrounding regions in the period between 1969 and 1972. Some of these patients may also have suffered burns from explosives.
"I have one specific recollection of a young man of 20 or 25 years of age being brought over from Derry with a gunshot wound to his femural artery at some time prior to Bloody Sunday. I remember that he died in the reception of the hospital soon after he was brought in.
"At that time I think this had the effect of discouraging people from making the journey from Derry to Letterkenny with a person who had suffered a gunshot wound. Instead they would go straight to Altnagelvin hospital in Derry. After that we received very few casualties from Derry."
A sergeant in the Coldstream Guards who was on duty on Derry's walls on Bloody Sunday has denied he gave a statement to the Royal Military Police about events on the day, although the inquiry is in possession of an RMP statement bearing his name at the top.
Staff Sgt 129, in a statement to the present tribunal, says after the Civil Rights marchers entered the Bogside on January 30th, 1972, he heard shooting. "The shots were fired by SLRs, There was quite a barrage of shots . . . I cannot recall hearing any other noises prior to the sound of these shots."
Mr Clarke said this account was very different to what was said in an RMP statement bearing Staff Sgt 129's name at the top. That statement said, in part: "After two or three minutes of baton rounds I heard a burst of automatic fire, six or eight rounds, also in the direction of Rossville flats, and after this more baton rounds, then the sound of general shooting . . ."
When he was shown this statement, Staff Sgt 129 said although it bore a resemblance to what he saw and heard, "I did not give such a statement or any statement about the events of that day".
Counsel also referred to accounts given of a soldier firing at an acid bomber in the Rossville flats on the orders of his sergeant.
Mr Clarke said: "The tribunal will recall that an acid bomb is not expressed in the definition of firearm in the Yellow Card and the question arises whether that firing, which is not shown to have struck anybody, was in accordance with the Yellow Card or otherwise justifiable."