Kelly Judicial Review hears no re-investigation ever took place
Adrian Mullan, Ulster Herald | 03 October 2003
JUST days after the RUC became the PSNI, a detective inspector misled a solicitor acting for the family of murdered Councillor, Patsy Kelly, suggesting that a crucial file had been lost during an 1993 re-examination of the 1974 murder. However, according to the Detective in charge of the new investigation into Mr Kelly's death, Superintendent Andrew Hunter, no such 'reinvestigation' took place.
That information came to light at the High Court in Belfast during the hearing of an appeal for a judicial review into the reluctance of the authorities here to bring in an outside police force to investigate the case. The Kelly family and the family's legal representative, Pat Fahy, have long believed that the security forces were directly involved in the murder of Mr Kelly, and that after the fact, they were again involved in ensuring that the murder was covered-up.
A police transcript of a conversation on September 4 between Mr Fahy and Superintendent Hunter was presented to the presiding judge, Justice Brian Kerr, at the judicial review which opened on Friday. The Court heard that Mr Hunter told Mr Fahy he could offer no explanation as to why a police inspector wrote to him on November 27, 2001 to tell him that the case files had been 'misplaced' following a 1993 re-examination of the murder by the RUC Serious Crime detectives.
Counsel for the PSNI, Paul Maguire, said that the case was of some importance and stressed that, therefore, the respondent would require time to file an affidavit to respond to the claim by Mr Hunter in respect of the 're-investigation'. From the outset the police contended that the Secretary of State and not the Chief Constable is responsible for who conducts criminal investigations in Northern Ireland.
Justice Kerr said that if it were true that no re-investigation took place in 1993, that would raise a number of considerable issues as to the claim by the respondent (PSNI) that they have sufficient measures in place to ensure the independence of the current investigation.
'It does seem to me that it is necessary, where collusion is suspected, or alleged, that the investigation should be carried out by an outside police force', said Justice Kerr.
On the night of Patsy Kelly's murder, a UDR patrol was said to have been in the area and though there were signs of a struggle and a number of pieces of evidence gathered by police at the time, it is now feared that that evidence may no longer be available. On July 29 this year the PSNI announced it was mounting an investigation into the murder.
Patsy Kelly was shot, as he drove a long the Barony Road to his home in Golan, Trillick. His murderers then tied 56lb weights to his body and dumped it in Lough Eyes, near Lisbellaw. He had been shot several times. Three weeks after his disappearance and a massive search had been started by local people, a fisherman discovered his remains.
Detective Supt Hunter was seconded to head the investigation from an English police force and began by sending a team of detectives to make house to house inquiries in the Trillick and surrounding areas.