Kingsmills Massacre: Families begin legal action to force publication of report from Police Ombudsman
Victims of the Kingsmills Massacre are taking legal action against the Police Ombudsman in a bid to speed up publication of a report relating to the atrocity.
Ten Protestant factory workers were gunned down by the IRA near Kingsmills in south Armagh in 1976.
Sole Survivor Alan Black (81) visited Stormont recently with Karen Armstrong, sister of victim John McConville, to meet DUP Policing Board member Joanne Bunting.
Ms Armstrong said Police Ombudsman investigators told them their report on the atrocity was completed in 2020, so she questions why it is not yet published. “We want truth. We haven’t even got an inch of that, and that’s what is wrong,” she said.
The Ombudsman said it aims to report its findings before the end of April 2025.
A spokesman said historical investigations are "invariably very complex". He added: "We have a small team and they are continuing to work to provide families and survivors with outcomes to their complaints as soon as possible, without compromising essential quality assurance processes."
Solicitor for the families, Barry O'Donnell of KRW Law, said they have begun Judicial Review action to force publication sooner.
Kenny Donaldson, director of victims’ group SEFF, said: “The bereaved families and lone survivor Alan Black have been systematically failed by processes to help deliver accountability. Yet it remains forever the case this was a sectarian act of genocide by IRA terrorists.”
• In a report on Kingsmill in yesterday’s News Letter a photo was wrongly captioned. We are happy to correct the matter, it should have read Karen Armstrong.