THE UK GOVERNMENT’S failure to order a public inquiry into the murder of GAA official Sean Brown in 1997 was unlawful and “cannot stand”, the Court of Appeal in Belfast has ruled.

Northern Ireland’s Lady Chief Justice Siobhan Keegan said she would not make a mandatory order at this point that Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn should establish a statutory inquiry, but has instead given him four weeks to “reflect upon the judgment of the court”.

Sean Brown, 61, the chairman of Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAA club in Derry, was ambushed, kidnapped and murdered by loyalist paramilitaries as he locked the gates of the club in May 1997.

No-one has ever been convicted of his killing.

The UK government had appealed against a decision by the British High Court last year to order a public inquiry to be held into the murder.

Sean Brown’s widow, Bridie Brown, attended the hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice today.

Delivering the Court of Appeal judgment, Chief Justice Keegan said there had been no human rights compliant investigation into the murder 28 years ago.

She said: “This is a shocking state of affairs in that a quarter of a century has passed since Sean Brown was murdered and yet there has been no lawful inquiry into the circumstances of his death.”

No one has ever been convicted of Sean Brown's murder. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Keegan said: “We find the decision to refuse a public inquiry cannot stand and is unlawful and in breach of Article 2 obligations.

“An independent public investigation dealing with the coroner’s concerns, capable of dealing with sensitive material, with the Brown family legally represented, provided with the relevant material and able to examine the principal witnesses must be held without further delay in order to satisfy the obligations imposed by Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which all parties agree the UK Government is in breach of.”

She said she would adjourn the case for four weeks to give the Secretary of State time to consider the judgment of the court and to confirm how he would comply with the order.

“We stress there can be no further delay in this case.”

Inquest halted

Last year, a coroner halted an inquest into the Brown killing, expressing concern that his ability to examine the case had been “compromised” by the extent of confidential state material being excluded from the proceedings on national security grounds.

Preliminary inquest proceedings had already heard that in excess of 25 people had been linked by intelligence to the murder, including several state agents.

It had also been alleged in court that surveillance of a suspect in the murder was temporarily stopped on the evening of the killing, only to resume again the following morning.

Coroner Mr Justice Patrick Kinney called on the British government to establish a public inquiry into the loyalist murder.

Benn decided against holding an inquiry, arguing that the case could instead be dealt with by a new Troubles investigatory body, the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).

Sean Brown’s widow Bridie challenged Benn’s decision not to order a public inquiry and High Court judge Mr Justice Humphreys found in her favour in December and ordered the UK government to establish one. They then appealed against that decision.

‘Time-wasting delay’

Speaking on RTE’s News at One programme this afternoon, GAA president Jarlath Burns said the failure was a “time-wasting delay by the British government” to try and avoid ever giving Bridie Brown justice.

Burns said: “All she wants to know, all that family want to do, is to find out why was there their daddy, their husband, singled out for a murder on that day, who was involved, and is there any way at all of just finding the truth.

“Unfortunately, since 1997, the British government, the PSNI, Special Branch, MI5, they have all combined to try and avoid giving them that truth.”

Burns said the GAA had the Brown family at their congress in Donegal last week, where they received “a rousing reception”. 

“We will always support that family, and I personally will as part of my presidency, until they get what they want: justice for the murder of their father.”

Chief Justice Keegan told the court the limitations of the ICRIR to deal with cases like the Brown killing are “apparent”.

She said the commission, as it is currently established, is not equipped to deal with cases which involve sensitive material.

Mrs Brown is 87-years-old. She has been pursuing her remedy for 28 of those years.

“In this case, the ICRIR is not fit for the purpose of delivering the remedy she needs now,” Keegan said. 

She said the court recognised that in the past some inquiries have been costly.

But she added that the coroner had already undertaken the bulk of the work and reviewed sensitive material in the case.

She said there was nothing in theory to stop Kinney from being appointed to chair a public inquiry in the case.

“Such a bespoke inquiry, already fully armed by statute, with the powers to address sensitive material and building on the work of Kinney would be capable of delivering a remedy for Mrs Brown within a timescale that is relevant to her.”

Keegan said some of the advice given to the NI Secretary by civil servants around the cost of a public inquiry was “flawed”.

A further hearing in the case will take place on 2 May.