Lawyers for the family of a murdered nationalist councillor hit out today at new delays in their fight for an independent investigaton into his death.
A judicial review application into the PSNI's refusal to appoint outside investigators to examine the killing of Patrick Kelly 30 years ago was adjourned at the High Court in Belfast.
The Lord Chief Justice Sir Brian Kerr ruled the case should not proceed until a judgment emerges from a case at the House of Lords.
The decision means Mr Kelly's widow Teresa faces a further wait before she finds out if the action she brought last September will succeed.
Her barrister, Mr Seamus Treacey QC, said earlier: "One of the things the applicant was concerned about was that there may be significant delays.
"We are now in February and the very thing we had feared may happen has already come to pass and will be exacerbated by a further adjournment.
"The applicant and the family will be bitterly disappointed if this case is adjourned."
Mr Kelly, 33, went missing after locking up a bar in Trillick, Co Tyrone in July 1974.
The father-of-four's body was found floating 10 miles away in Lough Eyes, Co Fermanagh three weeks later.
He had been shot several times before his body was weighted down.
Even though the Ulster Freedom Fighters claimed the murder, suspicions remain that rogue soldiers attached to an Ulster Defence Regiment patrol were involved.
No-one has ever been charged with the killing, but police launched a new investigation last July.
Mr Kelly's family have refused to back the PSNI inquiry, however, and have called on the service to step aside to let an outside force examine the case.
Their legal battle opened in September but was adjourned to allow police time to respond to alleged contradictions in evidence.
In court today Mr Paul Maguire, for the Crown, argued that a further delay was needed until after a decision is reached in a case involving an IRA man's death in an alleged shoot-to-kill incident.
PA