A solicitor for Soldier N informed prosecutors last week of his death.

Thirteen people were shot dead on 30 January 1972 when members of the Army’s Parachute Regiments fired on civil rights demonstrators, while a fourteenth person died later.

An email sent to some of the Bloody Sunday relatives from the Public Prosecution Service (PPS), seen by the BBC, states: “We received word last week from Soldier N’s solicitor that Soldier N had recently died.

“We don’t have any reason to doubt the information we’ve been given but I had directed the police to get some formal proof of that (a death certificate) and was waiting on that before alerting the families.”

Kate Nash, sister of one of the victims, William, who was 19, told BBC News NI she was disappointed by the news.

“If you walked in our shoes, you would realise how important justice is, not just to us, but to everybody,” she said.

“My brother, by not receiving justice, is being treated as worthless, which he is not.”

A decision on whether the ex-paratroopers, 18 of whom have been reported to the PPS, will face charges is expected by the end of next month.