The only person ever charged in the infamous 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre in Northern Ireland has gone on trial in a Belfast court with a prosecutor calling the shooting unjustified and its impact "long-lasting and profound".

The ex-paratrooper, a lance corporal identified only as "Soldier F" and concealed from view in court behind a blue floor-to-ceiling curtain to protect him from vengeance, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder.

Bloody Sunday was the deadliest shooting in the three decades of Northern Ireland violence known as "The Troubles". A total of 13 people were killed and 15 others were injured.

"The civilians ... did not pose a threat to the soldiers and nor could the soldiers have believed that they did," prosecutor Louis Mably sai

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