A former British paratrooper today denied telling a reporter he intended withholding evidence from the Saville Inquiry into the events of Bloody Sunday.
In a statement to the inquiry, Soldier J confirmed he had spoken to Daily Telegraphreporter Mr Toby Harnden in May 1999 about his recollection of January 30th, 1972, when 13 civilians were shot dead during a civil rights march.
But he denied telling the Ireland correspondent he had faced a grilling by Eversheds, the lawyers acting for the Saville Inquiry and had told them the bare minimum.
These comments were contained in a report on May 20th, 1999, in which Mr Harnden quoted a soldier he referred to as "X". The article stated: "I was grilled for several hours this year by lawyers acting for the Saville Inquiry. I told them the bare minimum and said that I could not really enlarge on anything said to Widgery or contained in my original statement the day after Bloody Sunday."
Soldier J, who has since admitted being "X", said: "These are not my words. It is clearly to be inferred from what is reported that I have information about the events of Bloody Sunday that I withheld from Eversheds when they interviewed me. That is not the case."
He conceded he may have told Mr Harnden that he could only remember the bare minimum of what had happened that day.
"I did not withhold information from Eversheds and I am quite certain that I did not tell Toby Harnden that I had. I also did not regard the Eversheds interview as a 'grilling'," he added.
The reporter faces ongoing contempt charges after refusing to name his sources when he appeared before the Saville Inquiry.
He won a reprieve earlier this year when the Appeal Court in Belfast accepted his argument that the contempt proceedings were criminal in nature rather than civil because he faced up to two years in jail. This gave Harnden greater rights to see the tribunal's documents.
Soldier J apologised to the inquiry for misleading the tribunal by denying on a number of occasions that he was 'X'.
PA