Ombudsman slammed over verdict into 1991 police shooting of IRA mortar mission man Colum Marks
Police Ombudsman Marie Anderson has been slammed over her verdict into the case of an IRA man killed while on a mortar mission.
Colum Marks was shot by an RUC officer on April 10, 1991, in Downpatrick. He died later in hospital.
The shooting happened during a counter-terrorism operation designed to thwart a planned IRA mortar attack on security forces.
Today (18th) in yet another controversial verdict on Troubles legacy issues, ombudsman Marie Anderson declared the police’s investigation into the shooting “wholly inadequate”, and said that opportunities to apprehend the IRA man may have been missed as there was a gap of close to 20 minutes between Marks being seen carrying the mortar and the RUC deciding to arrest him.
Now the TUV has slammed the police ombudsman’s verdict, accusing her of “playing to the anti-police gallery” by “blackening the good name of the RUC”.
Party secretary Ann McClure described the conclusions on the Marks case as “yet another report seriously lacking in balance”, and pointed to a High Court ruling last month that the ombudsman exceeded her legal powers in making findings of collusive behaviour by RUC officers in a series of loyalist murders.
Mrs Anderson has said she would appeal that ruling, but Ms McClure argues it was severe enough to warrant her resignation.
“One might have hoped that she would have learned from the recent High Court judgment, which should have called time on her desire to always play to the anti-police gallery, but clearly not,” she said.
“Then, of course, the ombudsman would have resigned in light of that judgment. She didn’t and is still delivering ridiculous findings which attempt to blacken the good name of the RUC.”
The TUV party secretary reinforced that Colum Marks was a member of proscribed organisation actively involved in terrorist acts when he was killed, stating: “There is no dispute about the fact that, had he not been shot, Marks would have been involved in a mortar attack which was designed to result in murder.
“No finding by the discredited ombudsman should be permitted to obscure the reality driven home simply by restating the facts of the case.”
Most of the records detailing the management of the covert anti-terror operation in the Marks incident have been destroyed, with the ombudsman stating the absence of such records “severely hampered” her investigation.
The IRA man was seen carrying what appeared to be a mortar at 9.29pm on April 10, 1991. At 9.47pm, officers were instructed to arrest the man, who fled the scene across a recreation ground, at which point the shooting occurred.
The ombudsman said: “It is clear that police intended to arrest suspects in circumstances that connected them to the weapon, and the intent to commit an unlawful act, rather than possession of the weapon alone.
“In the presence of what was described as a viable explosive device, it is my view that this was a high-risk strategy on the part of police, whose primary duty was to protect life.”
While the family of Mr Marks have claimed there was a conspiracy involved in his death, the ombudsman said she could find no evidence of one.
Two years ago, the Public Prosecution Service concluded there was no realistic chance of convicting the officer who shot the IRA man.