Justice in limbo after Britain refuses inquiries

Despite allowing a public inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane, the British Direct Ruler Hilary Benn has overruled inquest coroners and refused inquiries into other collusion killings.

The British government was accused of protecting state killers after it ruled out holding public inquiries into five sectarian murders.

Benn rejected a coroner’s request for a public inquiry into the murder of Kevin McKearney, a father of four, and related killings. Kevin was working behind the counter of the butcher shop in January 1992 when a gunman walked in and shot him several times. His uncle Jack McKearney was also shot and died later from his injuries.

Months later, Charlie Fox and his wife Tess were gunned down in their home, near Moy. Their daughter Bernie was married to Kevin McKearney.

Benn has also turned down a coroner’s request for an inquiry into the murder of Fergal McCusker in Maghera, County Derry, in January 1998.

Collusion is strongly suspected in each case and during inquest hearings suspects were identified, including two serial-killing state agents, Robin ‘The Jackal’ Jackson and Billy ‘King Rat’ Wright.

Both inquests, which opened last year and were originally linked, were subject to censorship restrictions.

During the inquest, a coroner was forced to abandon plans to provide a limited summary of sensitive information linked to the case after objections were received from MI5 and the British government. As a result, the inquests were halted.

The decisions come days after Benn also refused a similar inquiry into the 1997 murder of GAA official Sean Brown.

Kevin McKearney’s sister, Angela McKearney, has now asked “what are the state so afraid to reveal”?

“It seems clear that the state still to this day protects their state agents, those guilty of murder, at the expense of the victims,” she said.

“The state should stop hiding behind national security and give us the truth.

“We will continue our campaign for justice and now move for an urgent judicial review against the decision of the Secretary of state.”

His widow Bernie McKearney said her family is “not giving up” adding that they will not engage with the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).

“Our inquest was stopped by the coroner and a public inquiry was recommended,” she said.

“We want our inquiry and are not accepting a lesser body like the ICRIR.”

While the new Labour government has said it intends to repeal and replace the Legacy Act, which came into force in May, it intends to retain the ICRIR.

Lawyer Gavin Booth of Phoenix Law said the McKearney and Fox families “do not accept that the ICRIR is capable of discharging the states obligation to their family”.

“The family has no faith in this body and no amount of window dressing will change this families view and the view of all legacy families of the ICRIR,” he said.

“The secretary of state should now abolish the ICRIR.”

Sinn Féin’s Gerry Kelly said the decision by the British government to refuse a public inquiry into the McKearney and Fox murders as “outrageous and disgraceful”.

He said: “The McKearney and Fox family have fought with courage and dignity for over 32 years to establish the full extent of what happened to their loved ones,” he said.

“To date, Bernie McKearney, the wife of the late Kevin, has yet to even receive a death certificate for Mr McKearney, and the British Secretary of State is not forthcoming about how she will obtain one.

“This new British government entered office on a pledge to work with families on an agreed way forward. They have reneged on this promise and are instead continuing on with the same-old British government policy of delay and deny truth and justice to families here.

“It is the clear view of these families that they have no trust or confidence in the ICRIR and in this case the only way to fully establish full truth and justice is through an independent public inquiry. This was also the view of the coroner.

“If the British government is to restore any faith with victims and families here, it must listen to their concerns, fully repeal the shameful Legacy Act and finally stop covering up the disgraceful role of their state agents in the north.”

The inquest into Mr McCusker’s murder in Maghera, County Derry was also halted due to a refusal by state bodies to provide information. A coroner asked that a public inquiry be established.

Lawyer Pádraig Ó Muirigh, of Ó Muirigh solicitors, said it was a “matter of grave concern to the family and the wider Maghera community that this inquest has been compromised”.

“The McCusker family are very clear that the ICRIR is not the appropriate mechanism to deal with the investigation of his death. They have no confidence in the ability of this body to address the allegations of state collusion in the death of Fergal.

“The McCusker family will not give up the right to have a fearless investigation into his death that will expose the full extent of the role of agents in his death.”

Urgent Appeal