Police Ombudsman: Patrick Kelly's family 'failed by police'
The Police Ombudsman has concluded that the family of Patrick Kelly, who was abducted and murdered in 1974, was ‘failed by police’ as the result of a ‘wholly inadequate investigation’, with the actions of RUC Special Branch indicative of "collusive behaviour".
Mr Kelly, known to his friends and family as Patsy, was last seen alive in the early hours of 24 July 1974, driving away from the Corner Bar in Trillick, County Tyrone, where he worked.
His body was recovered from Lough Eyes, near Lisbellaw, County Fermanagh on 10 August 1974.
Mr Kelly, a nationalist councillor, had been shot six times.
While loyalist paramilitaries claimed responsibility for the murder, the Kelly family believe the killing was perpetrated by members of an Army patrol.
No-one has ever been charged or prosecuted over the murder.
Among the failings identified by the Police Ombudsman, she found that a senior investigating RUC officer showed "latent" investigative bias.
Marie Anderson concluded that the withholding of intelligence from the murder investigation team and the failure to act on intelligence about an active UVF unit in the Fermanagh area was indicative of "collusive behaviour" on the part of RUC Special Branch and the "L" Division Commander who was responsible for oversight of the investigation.
The Kelly family welcomed the ombudsman's report and said it vindicated their almost 50 year campaign for justice. They have called for a fresh inquest into the killing.
Police Ombudsman Marie Anderson said there was a series of "significant" investigative failings.
These included a failure to adequately verify the alibis of UDR members and failure to record detailed witness statements; a failure to link cases; and forensic failings including failure to make inquiries about footwear marks.
Officers also failed to recover a boat at Lough Eyes, with no record of fingerprint inquiries, and also failed to make inquiries about an anonymous letter, said the ombudsman.
She said there was a "latent" investigative bias on the part of the senior investigating officer.
"Investigative failings were central to the family's complaint and my investigation has found that there were a number of significant failings."
Patsy Kelly's widow Teresa and sons Patsy, Barry and Fearghal met with the Police Ombudsman in Belfast on Wednesday morning to receive the findings.
Afterwards, Patsy Kelly welcomed the report.
"Today is highly emotional for members of our family, a campaign of 50 years searching for truth and today we are vindicated in terms of the failings of police investigations," he said.
"We realise that today is a step forward in the overall campaign for truth and the next step in the process should be a fresh inquest that is granted immediately."
Responding to the Ombudsman's conclusions, Detective Chief Superintendent Ian Saunders, Head of Legacy Investigation Branch, said: “Patrick Kelly was the innocent victim of a brutal sectarian murder. I recognise that the pain and suffering felt by the Kelly family does not fade and my thoughts are with them today. “We note the comments made by the Police Ombudsman and acknowledge her findings around the original investigation into Mr Kelly’s murder in 1974. “Policing in 1974 operated in a very different context. Investigative standards for detectives and forensic opportunities were very different to those rightly expected today.
"None of this seeks to excuse any inadequacies or failings in the original RUC investigation, it is simply to place them in the wider context of the time.
“Policing has developed enormously over the past forty nine years and the Police Service of Northern Ireland now have greatly improved policies and procedures which guide how we approach criminal investigations and I note the comments of the Police Ombudsman regarding the re-investigation in 2003-2005.”
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