A lawyer representing the families and wounded of Bloody Sunday says he is “staggered” that the PSNI have still made no attempts to either question or arrest any former soldier involved in the 1972 massacre.
Peter Madden, of Madden & Finucane Solicitors, last night hit out at the police’s “abject failure” to progress the murder investigation which was announced back in July. The lack of progress was confirmed in a PSNI letter to Madden & Finucane this week.
The correspondence confirmed that, besides the initial “scoping exercise” into the murders, PSNI have yet to further the case for soldiers’ prosecutions and have yet to appoint a family liaison officer to work alongside families and those who were wounded on January 30, 1972.
At the time of going to press, police still hadn’t responded to a ‘Journal’ query into the matter.
Families of those murdered have expressed disbelief following the revelations.
Joe McKinney, whose brother William was shot dead in Glenfada Park, also says he is “extremely angry”. Citing the example of another historical murder inquiry, he demands a “level playing field” when it comes to investigating crimes committed by the armed forces.
“I read a newspaper report in recent months concerning the trial of a man accused of murdering Captain Robert Nairac in 1977. The Crown barrister opening the prosecution said that the passage of time must not absolve those accused of heinous crimes being brought to justice, but it appears to me to grant absolution if the person responsible for the crime wore a British Army uniform,” Mr McKinney told the ‘Journal’.
“I am extremely angry that there does not appear to be a level playing field and that those responsible for the murders committed on Bloody Sunday are not being pursued with any genuine conviction or rigour by the PSNI.”
