THE family of an Irishman who was murdered at the height of the Troubles have been “vindicated” after a police ombudsman report confirmed failings in the investigation into his death.
The report released by the Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland this week concluded that the family of Patrick ‘Patsy’ Kelly, who was abducted and murdered in 1974, were “failed by police” as the result of the “wholly inadequate investigation” into his death.
Mr Kelly, who was an independent nationalist councillor on Omagh District Council, was abducted on his way home from work at Corner Bar in Trillick, Co. Tyrone, in the early hours of July 25, 1974.
The 35-year-old’s body was recovered over two weeks later, on August 10, from Lough Eyes near Lisbellaw in Co. Fermanagh.
The father-of-four had been shot six times and a 56lb weight had been tied to his body with a rope before it was deposited in the water.
Noone has ever been convicted of Mr Kelly’s murder, although his wife and children have maintained, in their ongoing campaign for justice, that there was involvement by the British Army’s Ulster Defence Regiment.
They also claimed the original investigation into their father’s death was flawed.
That claim was vindicated by NI Police Ombudsman Marie Anderson this week, who met with the family before releasing her report on April 26.
The report found a series of investigative failings into Mr Kelly’s death, including that the senior investigating officer showed “latent” investigative bias.
Mrs Anderson also concluded that the withholding of intelligence from the murder investigation team and the failure to act on intelligence about an active UVF unit in the Fermanagh area was indicative of “collusive behaviour” on the part of RUC Special Branch and the ‘L’ Division Commander who was responsible for oversight of the investigation.
“Investigative failings were central to the family’s complaint and my investigation has found that there were a number of significant failings,” said Mrs Anderson.
The report went on to confirm that at an early stage in the investigation into Mr Kelly’s death, the senior investigating officer considered the involvement of UDR members in the murder as a key line of enquiry and had recorded that UDR involvement was also rumoured in the local community.
However, the report found that although 20 UDR members were interviewed or had witness statements recorded to establish their movements on the night of the abduction, the majority of the alibis provided were not checked.
“The senior investigating officer initially considered that UDR members may have been involved in Mr Kelly’s murder,” Ms Anderson said.
“It was his responsibility to assess the alibis provided by all of the UDR members concerned and to test their accounts. I am of the view that he did not do so adequately.”
She added: “This failure to gather evidence which may have eliminated or implicated UDR members as potential suspects in Mr Kelly’s abduction and murder impacted on the ability to complete other lines of enquiry which, if followed, may have led to potential arrests.”
Speaking after the release of the report, Mr Kelly’s son, also named Patsy Kelly, said: “Today is highly emotional for all members of our family.
“A campaign of over 50 years searching for truth, and today we are vindicated in terms of the failings of police investigations.”
He added: “Today is a step forward in the overall campaign for truth and the next step in the process should be a fresh inquest that is granted immediately.
“Also mindful of all the other families that are coming behind us and if the Tory government’s inhumane and despicable legacy bill is passed then this pathway upon which we have taken with numerous obstacles over the decades will be shut down to other families, that cannot be allowed to happen.”
