of reassuring calmness in interviews, normally helpful to him, was sometimes damaging. At a 15 December 1971 news conference in Belfast, Maulding said that the British Army had the power to reduce IRA violence to "something which is acceptable", a remark widely regarded as a gaffe. He also tended to trust the Unionist-controlled Government of Northern Ireland and gloss over differences between their approach and that of the United Kingdom government. This backfired when the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, James Chichester-Clark, resigned when denied the full number of troops he requested in March 1971. That August, Maudling authorised the Northern Ireland government to introduce internment without trial for terror suspects, which caused widespread upheaval and anger among the nationalist population due to its exclusive use on that community, and was followed by an already planned massive escalation in the level of violence. Regarding criminal justice, Maudling made no attempt, despite his personal support, to reintroduce capital punishment after its abolition in 1969. He introduced Community Service, a new alternative to prison, and in 1971 modestly tightened the immigration rules. He was criticised for ordering the deportation of Rudi Dutschke, a leader of the German student movement. Dutschke, who was in Britain to recuperate from an assassination attempt, was considered a student anarchist. Maudling was often the target of satirical cartoons in major newspapers, and was lampooned in the magazine Private Eye and the television comedy show Monty Python's Flying Circus. Bloody Sunday After soldiers from the Parachute Regiment shot and murdered 14 protestors from a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) march on 30 January 1972, Maudling gave a statement in the House of Commons, agreeing with statements published by army spokesmen claiming that the regiment had only opened fire in self-defence. Northern Irish politician and MP Bernadette Devlin, who had been present in Derry when the incident occurred, attempted to response to Maudling's statement but was denied by Speaker of the House Selwyn Lloyd; Devlin responded by walking across the commons floor and slapping Maudling. Devlin subsequently told journalists that Maudling's statement contained numerous falsehoods and expressed no regrets for the victims of the incident. Eventually, Edward Heath decided to bring in direct rule of Northern Ireland under a separate Secretary of State. In 1974, Shane Paul O'Doherty, a IRA member, sent Maudling a letter bomb, which slightly injured him. Scandal In 1972, Maudling's business activities were causing