‘Focus on murder of Pat Finucane shows how other victims have been devalued’

An expert on Troubles intelligence tactics has said the close focus on a single Troubles killing – that of Pat Finucane – only serves to demonstrate how thousands of other victims have been “devalued”.
Ex-police chief of The Met John Stevens with an appeal poster, 2003Ex-police chief of The Met John Stevens with an appeal poster, 2003
Ex-police chief of The Met John Stevens with an appeal poster, 2003

William Matchett has now joined a growing chorus of people who have voiced unease about the issue, as the government gets ready to announce whether it will grant a full publinc inquiry into his murder in the coming weeks.

The matter began hitting the headlines on Tuesday when Labour’s NI spokeswoman issued a statement demanding an inquiry.

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“That this crime could happen at all in our country is shocking,” she said.

“That it’s never been investigated to a lawful standard is unjustifiable...

“Unless justice is done, and seen to be done, the wounds of the past simply won’t be allowed to heal.”

In the past week ex-police officers Alan Mains and Norman Baxter, as well as Mary McCurrie (daughter of IRA victim Jim McCurrie) and former Labour MP Kate Hoey, have all spoken out in response.

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Now Mr Matchett – a former RUC Special Branch inspector who has authored a history of intelligence operations against the IRA – says: “One murder has been extensively investigated.

“Yet so many unsolved murders, especially those committed by PIRA, have got nowhere near the same attention because politically they were devalued in a peace deal brokered by Labour.”

He noted that security forces and their policies had been “imperfect” but added that “Labour’s treatment of both since Easter 1998, alongside comfort letters to terrorists and suchlike, speaks for itself”.

Three reviews – in 2003, 2004, and 2012 – have been conducted into the killing, all highlighting evidence of collusion between elements of the security forces and loyalists (loyalist Ken Barrett was jailed in 2004 over the murder).

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It is thought a full inquiry would hold its hearings in public, and be able to compel witnesses and evidence.

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