Bloody Sunday soldiers could face murder charges as police announce criminal investigation There was widespread bewilderment over why it had taken prosecutors so long to digest the findings of the Saville Inquiry, which took 12 years and cost £191 million before Lord Saville published his findings in June 2010. Eamonn McCann, one of the organisers of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association march on Bloody Sunday, said: "There was puzzlement that nothing happened immediately after Saville so this will be welcomed by the victims" families. I think the police investigation is going to be very difficult though. The shooters who gave evidence to Saville either justified their actions or said they couldn't remember anything, and it's to be expected that they will stick to that line. Mr McCann said the majority of victims" families had no desire to see "former squaddies in their 60s" go to prison, "particularly given all the amnesties there have been since then." But, he added: "They have to be charged and face court because if they are not, the implication is that the deaths were not murder." One solicitor who represented some of the soldiers during the Inquiry, who asked not to be named, said: "This does look like a particularly mad decision. How they are going to have a criminal trial after 40 years and after that inquiry I just don't know. It's certainly an interesting use of public money. Under the terms of the Saville Inquiry, none of the evidence heard during its sessions can be used in a criminal investigation, meaning the police will have to start from scratch. Mr Baggott said: "I do not think anywhere else in the world is facing the challenges of organised crime, paramilitary activity ... alongside having to deal with 30 years of misery in such a way." He said potential crimes raised by the report should be investigated but asked what the consequences were for keeping people safe now if detectives were diverted from current crimes. "I cannot ask the people doing this to take on a whole raft of other tasks which may be serious by themselves," he told the Policing Board in Belfast. Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris the matter would need to be brought to the Policing Board which oversees policing in Northern Ireland to assess priorities. He said police needed to strike a balance between protecting life in the present day and the need to investigate historic crimes. Mr Harris added: "There is not the expertise free and available to undertake an investigation of this size and that is why we are faced with dilemmas around prioritisation. The special resources required for this scale of investigation are just not available at this moment to commence an investigation of this scale and length of time. It is an undertaking which will take perhaps three to four years.