An army major who was shot by an IRA gang, allegedly including Mr Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin, yesterday claimed "young Derry hooligans" were among those killed on Bloody Sunday.
The officer, referred to as INQ 1872, who was part of the team presenting the military case to the 1972 inquiry into the shootings, lost his right hand after the ambush in March of that year.
Mr Colin Wallace, an army intelligence officer, alleged to the Bloody Sunday inquiry in September this year that Mr McGuinness had been part of that IRA group. Mr McGuinness was the education minister under the suspended Northern Ireland Executive and is Sinn Féin's chief negotiator.
The hearing was told that the major worked as secretary to the team presenting the military case to Lord Widgery.
In his statement to the inquiry he said: "On Monday, 13 March 1972, which was when the inquiry and my work on it was ended, I went out on a foot patrol of the Bogside with the Royal Green Jackets. It was not to the area where events took place, but I was interested to see the situation on the ground.
" The patrol I accompanied went to Stanley's Walk, where we were ambushed and fired upon by a machinegun. The corporal with us was badly wounded."
He went on: "The patrol commander bashed down the door to a house and took him inside. I recall the lady of the house being initially upset at the intrusion, but then trying to help.
"After a short time we got the wounded corporal out to open ground where we were fired on again. I returned fire, but was shot myself in my right arm."
In September, Mr Wallace told the inquiry that he had not been with the major, but was in a second team who were parallel to the main group. He said he had not been involved in the actual firefight. He was then quoted an interview he gave to Channel 4.
It said: "The Widgery team was ambushed while on a fact-finding visit to the Bogside. Secretary to the legal team, Maj INQ 1872 . . . was shot in the wrist and lost his arm. Martin McGuinness was one of the ambushers."
Mr Wallace, asked if at the time he knew Mr McGuinness was allegedly part of the ambushing party, said: "No, we were told some time later. It may have been even several months later, but we were told that he was part of the group."
Giving further evidence, the major said: "My memory is that the nationalist propaganda at the time was that they were all 'innocent'. However, I think that there were young Derry hooligans amongst the dead who used to throw stones and cause trouble.
"A lot of them may have had convictions and were not as 'innocent' as the nationalist propaganda tried to make out."
The hearing was adjourned until today.