Widow of man allegedly killed by drug-dealing police informer takes legal action to force inquest

The high court in Belfast
Papers have been lodged at the High Court by lawyers for the widow of Francis Turley, who was allegedly murdered by a drug-dealing police informer, to try and force a new inquest into his killing.

The widow of a man murdered at a meeting with an alleged drug-dealing police informer is taking legal action against Northern Ireland’s Attorney General for refusing to order a fresh inquest into his killing. Frankie Turley was shot dead near a railway line in Co Antrim back in June 1998. The father-of-five is widely believed to have been the ‘fourth man’ who escaped when undercover British soldiers killed three of his colleagues during an aborted armed robbery at a bookmakers on the Whiterock Road in west Belfast eight years previously.

Mr Turley’s body was found dumped by an embankment at Mountview Place, Newtownabbey after being blasted with a pump action shotgun. At the original inquest in 2000 police said he attended the scene voluntarily, with intelligence suggesting a motive for the killing may have been linked to a dispute over the drugs trade. It is now being claimed that one of the men he went to meet at the railway embankment was an RUC Special Branch agent. In May this year Attorney General Dame Brenda King declined a request by his widow, Donna Turley, to direct a fresh inquest. With the case having been transferred to the PSNI’s Legacy Investigation Branch (LIB) and a separate complaint made to the Police Ombudsman back in 2007, Dame Brenda formed the view that those investigations remain the proper course.

She acknowledged the family’s frustration at the lack of progress and left the door open to a future reconsideration if new evidence emerges. Lawyers representing Mrs Turley have lodged papers at the High Court seeking leave to judicially review that decision. They claim the Attorney General has misdirected herself and breached the European Convention on Human Rights. There has been no effective investigation into the killing, depriving his widow of a proper determination on the legality of her husband’s death, it is contended. Owen Winters, of Belfast firm KRW Law, said: “We accept this is a challenging request for the Attorney General, but the refusal to grant an inquest to the Turley family left us with little option but to put the case before the courts. “We say it is incorrect to claim both the Police Ombudsman and PSNI will be able to properly investigate the circumstances surrounding the murder.” Mr Winters claimed it was “depressingly familiar” to have a family waiting 16 years on a probe by the Ombudsman. “The Attorney General’s inquest refusal confirms the prejudice suffered by this family as a result of the anomalous decision to insert an otherwise non-Troubles related case within LIB,” he added. “That’s unacceptable. The next of kin deserve more.”

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know.