A former soldier has been arrested in connection with the shootings on Bloody Sunday.

In one of the most controversial actions by the British state during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, British troops opened fire on protesters during civil rights march through Londonderry in January 1972.

Thirteen people were killed in the incident, and a fourteenth later died of their injuries.

The 66-year-old former soldier from the Parachute Regiment is the first person to be arrested over the shootings in what Detective Chief Inspector Ian Harrison said “marked a new phase in the overall investigation which would continue for some time”.

In 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron apologised to the victims of the “unjustified and unjustifiable” atrocity on behalf of the state after a 12-year public inquiry found the state to be at fault as the soldiers opened fire first and without warning.