Investigators were kept in the dark

Posted by Jim on November 5, 2018

Investigators were kept in the dark, papers show

Fresh revelations in the murder of nationalist councillor Patsy Kelly
have called into question all previous investigations into the killing.

Mr Kelly, a 33-year-old father of five, was abducted and murdered as he
travelled home from the bar he was running in the County Tyrone village
of Trillick in July 1974.

Shortly after being stopped by a patrol of locally-recruited British
Army soldiers (UDR), the independent councillor was shot dead, his body
weighed down and dumped into a lough.

His remains were finally discovered the following month. No-one has ever
been brought to justice for the killing.

Mr Kelly’s murder was claimed by loyalists, but the family has
repeatedly stated that they believe he was murdered by the British Crown
forces who then engineered a cover-up.

It has now been revealed that ammunition connected to the discovery of
the body was found in the lough, some of which matched the same calibre
of bullet that was used to murder Mr Kelly.

This crucial evidence was withheld from the original inquest and also
disappeared from subsequent police investigations by the RUC, the PSNI
and the Historical Enquiries Team; as well as an ongoing investigation
by the Police Ombudsman’s Office.

There are concerns that other evidence was also lost as a result of the
failure to include this ammunition find in any public report.

Mr Kelly’s son Patsy, who took part in a new RTE radio documentary on
the case, said, “This new information calls into question every single
investigation that has been carried out by the police from 1974 to date
into my father’s murder.

“How could such a vital piece of information have either been withheld
or never been uncovered following so many alleged previous
investigations?

“The fact that this information was never submitted to the original
inquest throws yet another very sinister twist on the history of this
case. We will continue to seek the truth about my father’s murder and it
is simply disgraceful that the pain and anguish of our family is being
compounded by continued inaction and cover-up by the authorities.”

Researcher Ciaran MacAirt, who uncovered the archive papers which
document the ammunition find, said other papers are being withheld by
the British Ministry of Defence and the British National Archives for
reasons relating to ‘state security’.

The Kelly family solicitor, Pat Fahy added: “What other evidence which
might point to the killers being connected to the security forces is
still out there? The police and the British government must now come
clean on what has all the appearances of a state-sponsored killing, and
subsequent cover-up.”