RELATIVES OF the six men murdered by the UVF in Loughinisland, Co Down, in June 1994 have expressed their shock at the findings of the Police Ombudsman.
Al Hutchinson concluded there were serious failings in the original RUC investigation but stopped short of a finding of collusion between the state and the murderers.
The ombudsman’s investigators found the RUC lost records and exhibits, and authorised the destruction of evidence. The investigation was “lacking effective leadership and diligence”.
However, his claim that there was insufficient evidence to make a finding of collusion prompted outrage from victims’ families, nationalist pressure for him to resign and a call for an agreed definition of collusion from the Commission for Victims and Survivors.
Niall Murphy, solicitor for the Loughinisland families, told a press conference in Belfast yesterday: “The families consider that Al Hutchinson has performed factual gymnastics to avoid a conclusion. [They] fear it is a case of see no evil, hear no evil, and report no evil by Mr Hutchinson.”
Mr Hutchinson was paid by the state “to find the truth and report on it”, Mr Murphy said. “But he hasn’t.” The families remain convinced the murder of their relatives was not properly investigated as the RUC at the time wished to protect its loyalist informants.
Mr Hutchinson’s report, said Mr Murphy, was “timid, mild and meek”. The relatives did not believe for one second that the full story had emerged, he said.
“Al Hutchinson had the chance to give these families some form of justice after 17 long years of waiting by telling them what happened in Loughinisland. Collusion happened in this atrocity and the facts in this report prove it. The conclusions fall far short of what the facts demand.”
He said the ombudsman’s 56-page report into the alleged collusion between paramilitaries and the state did not contain a single mention of Special Branch. This amounted to “an insult to the intelligence of these families and an insult to the public”, he said.
Aidan O’Toole, barman at the Heights pub on the night of the killings, who was badly injured, said: “There have been huge forensic developments in the 17 years since our loved ones were murdered. But the RUC and PSNI can’t even identify one of the killers even though he left his hair behind.”
South Down MP, SDLP leader Margaret Ritchie called for the ombudsman to resign. “Al Hutchinson paints a picture of an incompetent Keystone cops type of police force when the reality was that the RUC and Special Branch were rotten to the core,” she said.
“I have sought a meeting with the Irish Government on Loughinisland, the issue of collusion and the role of the ombudsman.”
Sinn Féin Assembly member Caitríona Ruane said: “If ever there was a case which demonstrated collusion it is the murders at Loughinisland.”
Mr Hutchinson has said he still believes the Loughinisland killers can be caught. Asked for his reaction to the families’ criticisms, he said: “The families believe there is broad state collusion – our remit is only to focus on police actions.
“There are inconsistencies that are not explainable in the actions of one particular police officer and we have explored that, and we have no evidence of a deliberate action and therefore it is not collusion by definition.”
Brendan McAllister, chairman of the Commission for Victims and Survivors, said it was time for an agreed definition of collusion.
“The root of the problem is the inadequacy of arrangements for dealing with the past,” he said. “It should be clear that the criminal justice system on its own cannot meet victims’ needs nor take responsibility for helping this society’s journey towards peace and reconciliation.”