Two staff guided the smartly dressed, silver-haired 86-year-old to his seat in the witness box, where he donned glasses, and headphones to block out background noise. Frail he may be, but there was nothing weak about Sir Edward Heath's adamant dismissal that there was any pre-meditated government plan to shoot rioters on Bloody Sunday.
Relatives of the 14 killed in Derry's Bogside almost 31 years ago craned forward to hear the former prime minister's keenly awaited first day of evidence to the Saville tribunal. He will face tough questions from lawyers representing the bereaved and injured.
But Sir Edward insisted in his statement yesterday that it was "absurd to suggest that Her Majesty's government intended or was prepared to risk the events which occurred".
The former Tory leader gave evidence for just over two hours, speaking clearly and authoritatively, with a few pauses.
In the witness box he denied the allegation, from a statement by journalist Martin Dillon, that he had ever told Lord Carver, then the army's chief of general staff, that soldiers had the right to shoot protesters in Northern Ireland. He claimed that everyone had ignored Lord Hailsham when the then lord chancellor cited, at a ministerial meeting, an ancient law which allowed the army to shoot enemies of the crown.
"He exploded in a very Quintin-like way and said we must realise we could take this action, in fact we were under an obligation to take action. Nobody took any notice ... certainly as a government of which I was prime minister, we took no notice at all."
Sir Edward also denied any knowledge of a secret memo from Gen Sir Robert Ford, then commander of land forces in Northern Ireland, to the area's most senior army officer, Gen Sir Harry Tuzo, suggesting riots could be quelled by shooting to wound ringleaders.
He claimed in his statement that he had no advance intelligence of expected IRA activity on Bloody Sunday; indeed, he did not recall any specific intelligence briefings on Northern Ireland.
Sir Edward briefly discussed the security arrangements for the march at a meeting with Northern Ireland prime minister Brian Faulkner and army chiefs four days before Bloody Sunday, but insisted he was unaware that the Parachute regiment was to be deployed or that a large-scale arrest operation was anticipated.
He admitted that there was always a risk of IRA attack and therefore a gun battle with soldiers. But unlike Operation Motorman six months later, when the army moved into the Bogside and which Sir Edward described as one of the most tense evenings of his time in office, he claimed he had been caught unawares by the events of January 30th, 1972.
He was at his country residence, Chequers, discussing the forthcoming sailing season with his yacht crew when the news came through. He recalled a "highly charged and emotional" phone call from the then Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, later that evening.
Sir Edward recognised the severe political consequences of the shootings and realised he had to set up an independent judicial inquiry as soon as possible. The next day he appointed Lord Widgery, then lord chief justice of England, to chair it.
He admitted in his statement that he had warned Lord Widgery that the government was engaged in a propaganda war as well as a military one. But he staunchly denied this was an attempt to influence him and mounted a strong defence of the lord chief justice.
"As anyone who knew Lord Widgery would confirm, his integrity was beyond doubt or question. Lord Widgery was not given a 'steer' by me. In any case, he was not the sort of man who would accept a steer, even if one was offered." - (Guardian Service)