Man dies after RUC beating
The mother of 37-year-old Martin Murphy believes that a severe
beating by the RUC may have contributed to the untimely death of
her son.
Father of two Martin Murphy left his mother's house one Sunday
evening during July to walk the short distance to his Ardoyne
home. ``Martin was a harmless wee fella, with a bit of a drink
problem,'' says Rita Murphy. ``There was rioting on the road that
night but I knew Martin would never be involved.''
In the early hours of the morning, Rita was woken by neighbours
who told her Martin had been badly beaten by the RUC. ``Martin was
taken to hospital with extensive bruising to his back, legs and
face.''
Later that week Martin appeared at a Belfast press conference and
his injuries were photographed by the international media.
``Martin never recovered,'' says his mother, ``he was admitted into
hospital several times, the wounds on his legs never healed and a
district nurse attended him for several weeks.''
Three months after the beating, on October 22, Martin Murphy
died. Initially the cause of death was recorded as pneumonia. His
body was brought to the house on the Thursday at around 6pm.
Three hours later the RUC arrived and took his body away again.
``The RUC said they wanted to do an autopsy because they were
concerned that they might be blamed for Martin's death.'' The
Murphy family have placed the details of Martin's death in the
hands of a solicitor. ``We'll just have to wait and see now, but
as a mother I know my son was never the same after that beating,''
Rita Murphy says.
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