Judge orders UK government to set up Sean Brown inquiry

The UK government has been ordered to hold a public inquiry into the murder of GAA official Sean Brown by a judge in Northern Ireland.

Mr Justice Michael Humphreys compelled the step to be taken after finding the UK government remains in breach of a human rights duty to probe the full extent of state collusion in the May 1997 killing.

Granting a judicial review challenge by Mr Brown's widow Bridie, the judge told the High Court in Belfast that there is a "clear and unambiguous obligation" to establish a statutory probe.

"No viable alternative to a public inquiry has been advanced," the judge said.

"In these circumstances, there can be only one lawful answer, a public inquiry must be convened to satisfy the state's Article 2 obligation."

Mr Brown was chairman of Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAA in south Derry and was locking up the gates of the club when he was assaulted, abducted and murdered by a loyalist gang in May 1997.

The 61-year-old father of six was taken to a remote country lane outside Randalstown and shot six times.

No one has ever been convicted of his murder, which was carried out by the Loyalist Volunteer Force, a breakaway faction of the UVF.

Earlier this year it emerged at an inquest that state agents were among more than 25 people linked by intelligence to the killing

At that stage the coroner, Mr Justice Kinney, halted proceedings due to the extent of confidential material excluded or withheld on national security grounds.

He wrote to the previous Conservative government requesting the establishment of a public inquiry.

In September Mr Benn confirmed that those calls had been rejected.

He instead recommended that the Brown family should engage with the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), a new body set up under the controversial Northern Ireland Troubles Legacy Act.

The Court of Appeal has already ruled that parts of the legislation breaches human rights law, with the government having too much power to prohibit the Commission from sharing sensitive information.

Even though Keir Starmer's government has pledged to repeal the Act, it intends to retain the ICRIR.

According to Ms Brown, the decision to deny her a public inquiry into her husband’s murder breached Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Her lawyers argued that it is the only plausible way to expose the full truth of state involvement and the level of protection given to the killers.

Barrister Desmond Fahy KC accepted that the chances of anyone ever being convicted for the killing are "vanishingly small".

But even though they may have escaped accountability, he insisted the reasons must still be examined.

Ms Brown and members of her family were accompanied by supporters, political representatives and GAA President Jarlath Burns for their legal challenge.

The judge was told how a number of reports have already been heavily critical of the RUC’s probe into the murder.

Former Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan found a number of failings and inadequate efforts made to identify those responsible.

In 2022, the PSNI issued a public apology to Ms Brown for deficiencies in the original probe as part of a settlement reached in a separate civil action over claims that those who carried out the assassination were protected.

Despite the collapse of the inquest into her husband’s death, counsel described the legal challenge as another opportunity to obtain the correct account of what happened.

It was emphasised that the family wants the UK government to be compelled to convene a public inquiry, rather than just "the low hanging fruit" of obtaining a declaration that the current situation is unlawful.

Anything less would permit the state of illegality to continue, their lawyers contended.

Counsel for the UK government argued that the challenge involved intruding into the separate role played by the government.

He insisted that the Secretary of State retains the discretion to establish public inquiries.

Acknowledging it was an unusual and exceptional step to take, the judge concluded that it was fully justified by the legal principles and facts surrounding the killing.

"After 27 years, the United Kingdom has manifestly failed to investigate the murder of Sean Brown in which state agents were allegedly involved," he said.

"An 87-year-old widow does not know how, why or by whom her husband was killed.

"Previous investigations have been fundamentally flawed. Information has been deliberately withheld.

"It simply cannot be the case that the state can cite resources and ignore the duty it owes to the Brown family."

He confirmed: "I therefore make an order of mandamus compelling the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to cause a public inquiry to be held, under the Inquiries Act 2005, into the death of Sean Brown on May 12 1997."