Families of two men killed by loyalists ‘failed by police’ – ombudsman

Police “failed” the families of two men who were killed by loyalists in 1988, the police ombudsman has found.

Marie Anderson came to the conclusion after finding a number of failings, including linking a rifle recovered by police in 1988 to the murders of Seamus Morris and Peter Dolan.

In her report, Ms Anderson also highlights to the Police Service of Northern Ireland the “misattribution of weapons to murders as a potential systemic issue”.

Mr Morris, 18, was shot dead on August 8, 1988 at Etna Drive in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast, moments before Mr Dolan,  25, who was sitting in a Guinness delivery lorry, was shot from the same stolen car.

The Protestant Action Force (PAF), believed to be a cover name for the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), claimed responsibility for both murders.

The office started investigating the case in 2015 after a letter of complaint from the family of Mr Morris.

Mr Morris’ family previously believed the rifle used in his murder was also used in the murders of five people at Sean Graham Bookmakers on the Ormeau Road in Belfast in 1992.

However, a previous ombudsman investigation had ruled that out, and it was later discovered that a different VZ58 rifle, which had been recovered in north Belfast in late September 1988, was in fact the weapon used.

Ms Anderson said the failure to correctly link the VZ58 rifle, at the point it was recovered by police in 1988, to the murders of Mr Morris and Mr Dolan, “deprived RUC investigators from developing lines of inquiry and interviewing suspects”.

“This misattribution of weapons to murders, by the RUC’s Weapons and Explosives Research Centre (WERC) and/or the Northern Ireland Forensic Science Laboratory, was highlighted to PSNI as a potential systemic issue,” she added.

She found there was a prompt initial police response to the incident, and a number of lines of inquiry pursued, but she believed there was a series of “missed investigative opportunities” in the original RUC investigation.

Two people were arrested in the days after the attack.

Ombudsman investigators did not find evidence to show their clothes had been seized for gunshot discharge residue testing, among missed opportunities.

There were also findings of the mishandling of exhibits, concerning a cigarette butt which appears to have gone missing, and missing journals and notebooks.

Meanwhile, no intelligence was found that could have warned of the murders, and there was no evidence that any person was protected during the police investigation.

Ms Anderson said she concluded the two families had been failed by police.

“I believe that Mr Morris and Mr Dolan were the innocent victims of a campaign of sectarian violence mounted against the nationalist community,” she said.

“Loyalist extremists were responsible for their murders. However, given the investigative failings and omissions identified, I believe that the Morris family were failed by police in their search for accountability for the murders of their loved one.”

Solicitor Setanta Marley, who acts for the Morris family, said they have “raised serious and compelling concerns” and called on Chief Constable Jon Boutcher to issue an apology.

“Today’s public statement represents a damning indictment of the RUC who absolutely failed the Morris family,” he said.

“Sadly, this morning they learned about a litany of failings and omissions, including incorrect linkage of weapons; wider links to the 1987 importation of firearms; a series of missed investigative opportunities; a failure to verify a key suspect’s alibi; a failure to seize a suspect’s clothing and arrest another suspect, together with mishandling of exhibits and many other failings.

“Unfortunately, this latest statement chimes with an ever-expanding and depressing back catalogue of police ombudsman statements, all of which collectively point to institutionalised RUC failings right across the conflict.

“We now call on the chief constable to apologise to the family.

“It’s the very least they can expect on what has been a very difficult day for them.”