Northern Ireland police chiefs and the Public Prosecution Service reviewed the inquiry's conclusions that the Army had fired the first shots and were to blame for what happened during the civil rights demonstration through Londonderry on Sunday January 30, 1972.
In an acknowledgement of the Army's role, David Cameron issued an apology in the wake of the report, describing what happened as 'both unjustified and unjustifiable'.
But details of the investigation were greeted with a mixture of disgust and astonishment last night by British soldiers involved in Bloody Sunday.
One senior member of the Parachute Regiment on duty that day said: 'I am absolutely staggered that this decision has been taken ... it is extraordinary. What will it achieve after the 12 years of the Saville Inquiry?'
Another former paratrooper at Bloody Sunday said: 'The Parachute Regiment lost 53 men in Northern Ireland, some of them were shot and others blown up. So when is there going to be a murder investigation into the loss of their lives?'
Among its findings, the Saville Inquiry said Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, of Sinn Fein, was present at the time of the violence and 'probably armed with a sub-machine gun' but did not engage in 'any activity that provided any of the soldiers with any justification for opening fire.'
Referring to the Queen's handshake with Mr McGuinness last week, another former Bloody Sunday Para said: 'Members of the regiment were disgusted when we saw it.
'The terrorists become the politicians and the soldiers become the scapegoats. There will be uproar about this because it is so one-sided.'
Three weeks after Bloody Sunday, the IRA detonated a car bomb outside the Parachute Regiment's officers' mess at Aldershot Barracks.
'We lost the padre Gerard Weston - who was a Roman Catholic priest - a gardener and five women who worked in the catering department,' said the ex-soldier.
'We are still waiting for a murder inquiry into that atrocity. When are we going to have that? We know the answer - we have no chance.'
Last night Assistant Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Drew Harris, said the resources needed for the Bloody Sunday inquiry were currently unavailable and it was unclear when it will be launched.
East Londonderry DUP MP Gregory Campbell said the investigation could run up a bill close to NZ$15million.
'It is clear from this announcement that there is a hierarchy of victims,' he said. 'Little wonder that some victims feel the death of their loved one was less worthy than that of the people on Bloody Sunday.' But John Kelly, a spokesman for the families, said: 'Hopefully, we will see the soldiers in a court of law.'
The report of the Saville Inquiry - at 12 years the longest and most expensive in British history - was published in June 2010.
Among its findings were: No warning had been given to any civilians before the soldiers opened fire; none of the soldiers fired in response to attacks by petrol bombers or stone throwers; some of those killed or injured were clearly fleeing or going to help those injured or dying; none of the casualties were posing a threat or doing anything that would justify their shooting and that many of the soldiers lied about their actions.
Lord Saville was appointed in 1998 by then prime minister Tony Blair to look into the events of Bloody Sunday.
It followed an earlier official inquiry in 1972, led by the Lord Chief Justice Lord Widgery, which was described as a 'whitewash' by the families of the victims.
- Daily Mail
