Document lifts lid on brutal murder
THE security forces failed to protect a young civil servant in the weeks before she was murdered, even though they had intelligence that her life was under threat, the News Letter has learned.
A letter from the former Police Ombudsman to Margaret Perry's family claims that police were aware the 26-year-old Portadown woman was in danger before she was bludgeoned to death in June 1991.
Her murder was one of the most chilling of the Troubles. Her body was not discovered for a year – it lay in the ground in Co Sligo until June 30, 1992.
And the bodies of three men linked with her killing – John Dignam, 32, Aidan Starrs, 34, and Gregory Burns, 29, also from Portadown – were found in south Armagh the following day, all shot in the head.
An IRA statement claimed she was killed because her former boyfriend Burns was an informer. It was also claimed that Margaret knew of his alleged links with British intelligence.
Nuala O'Loan delivered the letter personally to Margaret's family. Its findings have come to light in the wake of the Claudy report.
The document makes three conclusions:
- Police were aware of the threat to Margaret and steps could have been taken to protect her;
- Special Branch made a serious error of judgment and failed to protect Margaret;
n Special Branch failed to assist the investigation by withholding from CID certain intelligence indicating who might have murdered Margaret.
The victim's mother, Mary Perry, said: "Margaret was brutally murdered almost 20 years ago and I will never come to terms with it. It has destroyed my life. Margaret was a loving, naive young woman whose life was cruelly ended.
"It has made me hard and cynical and has changed my whole attitude to life. It has overwhelmed me and I won't be at peace until I meet Margaret in the next world."
A PSNI spokesman said the document had never been made public as it had been prepared and delivered personally by Mrs O'Loan.
"In that case, we cannot comment on private correspondence," he said.
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