Finucane probe RUC officers sue PSNI
Posted By: July 04, 2016
Trio says Special Branch hindered murder inquiry
Connla Young. Irish News (Belfast).Monday, July 4, 2016
FORMER RUC officers who investigated the murder of solicitor Pat Finucane are to sue the PSNI, claiming that Special Branch obstructed their investigation.
Former detective superintendent Alan Simpson and CID officers Trevor McIlwrath and Johnston Brown lodged legal papers with the High Court in Belfast late last year.
It is rare for former RUC officers to sue the PSNI over their handling of Troubles-related cases.
The family of the human-rights solicitor is still campaigning for a public enquiry into the circumstances of his murder.
The 38-year-old lawyer, pictured right, was shot 14 times by two UDA gunmen as he ate dinner with his wife and three children at their Fortwilliam Drive home, off Antrim Road in north Belfast, in February 1989. His widow Geraldine was also injured.
All three former officers claim they were unable to solve the controversial case because RUC Special Branch obstructed their investigation.
Several of those centrally involved in the murder were Special Branch and British army agents.
Mr. Simpson, who headed the investigation but has since retired, said senior Special Branch members he dealt with on a regular basis knowingly withheld information from him.
“I want some sort of satisfaction, some remedy in court,” he said.
Mr. McIlwrath, a former detective constable, said paramilitary groups were so heavily infiltrated by informers and agents in the final years of the Troubles that it was almost impossible to make an arrest.
Solicitor Kevin Winters, who is acting for the three former officers in the civil action, said they had no other option but to instigate proceedings.
Connla Young. Irish News (Belfast).Monday, July 4, 2016
FORMER RUC officers who investigated the murder of solicitor Pat Finucane are to sue the PSNI, claiming that Special Branch obstructed their investigation.
Former detective superintendent Alan Simpson and CID officers Trevor McIlwrath and Johnston Brown lodged legal papers with the High Court in Belfast late last year.
It is rare for former RUC officers to sue the PSNI over their handling of Troubles-related cases.
The family of the human-rights solicitor is still campaigning for a public enquiry into the circumstances of his murder.
The 38-year-old lawyer, pictured right, was shot 14 times by two UDA gunmen as he ate dinner with his wife and three children at their Fortwilliam Drive home, off Antrim Road in north Belfast, in February 1989. His widow Geraldine was also injured.
All three former officers claim they were unable to solve the controversial case because RUC Special Branch obstructed their investigation.
Several of those centrally involved in the murder were Special Branch and British army agents.
Mr. Simpson, who headed the investigation but has since retired, said senior Special Branch members he dealt with on a regular basis knowingly withheld information from him.
“I want some sort of satisfaction, some remedy in court,” he said.
Mr. McIlwrath, a former detective constable, said paramilitary groups were so heavily infiltrated by informers and agents in the final years of the Troubles that it was almost impossible to make an arrest.
Solicitor Kevin Winters, who is acting for the three former officers in the civil action, said they had no other option but to instigate proceedings.
