The former paratrooper known as Soldier F has been cleared of all charges relating to two killings and five attempted murders on Bloody Sunday.
In the packed public gallery at court 12, gathered relatives of the Bloody Sunday victims gave no visible or audible response as Soldier F was found not guilty on all counts.
There was also no reaction from those in the public gallery supporting the former paratrooper.
Delivering his judgment at Belfast Crown Court, Judge Patrick Lynch said the evidence presented against the veteran fell well short of what was required for conviction.
The judge said: “Soldiers G, H, F and E were part of the initial group of soldiers who entered the square and were responsible for the deaths and woundings. They had totally lost all sense of military discipline.
"They were members of a regiment formed in 1942 at the behest of Prime Minister Churchill and had a proud record in World War Two.”
“Those who fought valiantly against SS Panzer divisions in 1944 have had their regiment sullied by some of their successors.
“Shooting in the back unarmed civilians fleeing from them on the streets of a British city. Those responsible should hang their heads in shame.”
Judge Lynch said there was no concept of “collective guilt” in the courts.
He said the Crown had failed to establish that Soldier F was “knowingly and intentionally assisting in the shootings, with intent to kill or was shooting himself with that intention”.
He said the sole evidence against Soldier F was from two other veterans, Soldiers G and H, and said there were difficulties in relying on it."
