Roseann Mallon murder - family appeal for help
As we approach the fifth anniversary of the murder of 76-year-old
Roseann Mallon, brutally murdered in her Dungannon home in County
Tyrone on 8 May 1994 by the UVF, her family, who are stiill waiting
for an inquest, have made a heartfelt appeal for help in getting
their questions answered.
The first question they want answered about the day before the
killing is: Who were the number of armed men wearing camouflage that
two young boys stumbled upon at an old mill with 500 yards of the
Mallon house. This was reported to the RUC that evening; the young
boys with their mothers made statements to the RUC the next morning;
and this was the area investigated for forensics by the RUC.
Two months after the murder, surveillance cameras positioned so that
they could observe all the comings and goings from the Mallon home
were discovered by a family friend. While the cameras were being
removed, one of the biggest crown force military operations ever seen
in the area was put in place. Three helicopters filled the air, cars
with no number plates arrived and men in long trench coats occupied
the fields. When asked by neighbours what they were doing, these men
told the local neighbours to move to the backs of their houses as
there had been a bomb planted along the road.
A member of the Mallon family safely removed the surveillance cameras
and had them examined by a security expert, who revealed the
capabilities of this very high-tech equipment. A couple of weeks
later, the family solicitor asked RUC Inspector McFarland if they had
lost any equipment in the vicinity of the Mallon household. McFarland
sated that nothing was missing. When the six o'clock news carried
footage of the surveillance cameras, the well-dressed men appeared
again. This time, the outside policeman ordered to investigate the
murder by Ronnie Flanagan, Inspector Eric Armstrong ,said he wanted
to look at the cameras - the same cameras that three months
previously the RUC claimed didn't exist.
The questions the Mallon family want answered are:
- Who put the surveillance cameras in place?
- Why were they put there?
- Did the head of the RUC sanction the instalment of these cameras?
- Were the camera recordings passed on to the investigating team?
- Was the purpose of the cameras to assist or prevent acts of sectarian
terrorism?
- If the cameras had not been uncovered, would their presence and the
existence of the recordings ever have been revealed?
- Why was there such a quick response to the removal of the cameras,
when it took the RUC more than 45 minutes to respond to the murder?
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