Council backs campaign of ‘Derry Four’ for publication of Police Ombudsman's report into RUC mistreatment

Derry City and Strabane District has passed a motion in support of the ‘Derry Four’ who were wrongly charged with killing a British soldier in 1979.

The council is now calling on the PSNI to conclude its investigation into a Police Ombudsman’s report on Stephen Crumlish, Gerry McGowan, Michael Toner and Gerry Kelly (pictured), so it can be made public.

The four men fled to the Republic whilst on bail and were unable to return to Derry for almost 20 years.

All charges against them were dropped in 1998 and their treatment at the hands of the RUC became the subject of a Police Ombudsman’s investigation..

However, the report has never been published due to an alleged mishandling of the case by a representative of the Ombudsman’s Office.

The Ombudsman has now asked the PSNI to look into how the case was investigated, but this has not yet been done.