Rioters from Belfast tried to take over battles with soldiers on Bloody Sunday, it was claimed today.
Mr Gerard McDaid told the Saville Inquiry he was among 50 to 60 people excited about the prospects of a "good confrontation" with the army during the January 1972 civil rights march in Derry that ended with the deaths of 14 people.
Joining the riot after it had got under way, Mr McDaid, who was 18 at the time, said he and his friends pulled down a corrugated tin sheet to protect them from rubber bullets.
"I can also remember that there were some boys from Belfast there trying to get involved in the riot," he said.
Questioned by Ms Cathryn McGahey, junior counsel to the inquiry, Mr McDaid said: "The Belfast boys came down and they started to try to take over."
There were around 10 to 12 in the group from outside Derry and they appeared "hyper", he said.
Mr McDaid said he had been rioting against soldiers in Derry on a daily basis for at least a year before Bloody Sunday but claimed the atmosphere in the Bogside on the day was different from normal.
PA