Treat Claudy bombing in same way as Bloody Sunday: victim

Marjorie Leslie was one of dozens of people caught up in the three no-warning car bombs which exploded in the Co Londonderry village on July 31, 1972, almost exactly six months after Bloody Sunday.

She was badly injured in the bombing, and lost the achilles tendons in the heels of one of her feet.

The bombing, which claimed the lives of nine civilians and left survivors such as Ms Leslie to live with the mental and physical scars of the carnage, is widely believed to have been carried out by the IRA but no one has ever been brought to justice for the slaughter.

On Friday, it emerged that the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) is considering a range of charges, including murder and attempted murder, against 18 soldiers over their involvement in Bloody Sunday.

A spokesperson for the PPS said: “Investigation files in relation to Bloody Sunday were passed to the PPS in December 2016 and are presently under active consideration.

“No prosecution decision has yet been taken in relation to these files and it is likely to be some time before any decision will issue.”

Marjorie said she would like to see the Claudy bombing receive a similar level of scrutiny.

“I would like to see a similar focus on the Claudy bombings that there has been on Bloody Sunday,” she said.

“We feel forgotten about, very much so. Things seem to have come to a full stop with Claudy. There are people living today with their grief and their suffering and no one has ever been held responsible.”

She added: “I was injured in the bombing. I lost my achilles tendons in my left heel. I lived in Claudy at the time. My husband worked in a garage at that time and my children were very young.

“The bombing came right on the back of Bloody Sunday. There was Bloody Sunday and then we had the bombs in Claudy just a short time later.

“There isn’t much said about Claudy.”