Bereaved families who had pushed for a prosecution feel vindicated, to a degree, by the judge’s remarks about the Parachute Regiment’s actions on Bloody Sunday.
Representatives of veterans are welcoming the acquittal – and re-emphasising that paramilitaries killed 90% of the people who died during the Troubles.
Political reactions in Northern Ireland are predictably divisive.
Irish nationalist politicians are expressing disappointment at the verdict, and say there should have been a fuller investigation into Bloody Sunday at an earlier stage.
Unionists are arguing the outcome raises questions about whether Soldier F should ever have been prosecuted.
The Westminster government has given a more nuanced reaction – saying it is “committed to finding a way forward that acknowledges the past, whilst supporting those who served their country during an incredibly difficult period in Northern Ireland’s history”.
The issue of how killings from the Troubles should be investigated is one of the most complex in Northern Ireland – and the prosecution of former members of the security forces is one of the most controversial elements of that debate.
It will remain to the fore as legislation on a new investigative approach makes its way through Parliament in the coming months.
