Chief Constable to appeal award of £10,000 damages to barman who survived loyalist gun attack on County Down pub

John McEvoy secured the payout at the High Court for delays in carrying out an effective investigation into the shootings at the Thierafurth Inn in Kilcoo, Co Down.

One customer, 42-year-old Peter McCormack, was murdered and three others seriously wounded when a UVF gang burst in and opened fire during a darts tournament in November 1992.

Mr McEvoy, who was on duty in the bar and suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, took legal action against the Chief Constable of the PSNI over an alleged failure to properly examine circumstances surrounding the gun attack.

In October last year a judge found police were in breach of a legal duty to carry out a human rights-compliant probe within a reasonable time.

Mr Justice Humphreys held that new material within a watchdog report and a documentary film which named suspects represented plausible evidence of significant state collusion.

The decision to grant Mr McEvoy’s application for judicial review is not being challenged.

However, an appeal has been lodged against a subsequent ruling on the appropriate remedy for the identified breach of obligations within the European Convention on Human Rights. Lawyers for the police dispute the judge’s determination that an award of £10,000 damages was necessary to provide just satisfaction to Mr McEvoy. They further contend that the level of payout was excessive.

It was confirmed in the Court of Appeal today that arguments will focus on what is required under the Convention.

Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan agreed to list the challenge for full hearing in October.

The case is centred on information about suspected collusion between members of the security forces and the UVF operating in the south Down area at that time.

It followed the publication in 2016 of a Police Ombudsman report into the Loughinisland massacre.

In that attack loyalist gunmen murdered six Catholic men watching a World Cup football match in June 1994.

A film on the Loughinisland killings, No Stone Unturned, named suspects and strengthened the case for a fully independent probe, it was contended.

One of those referred to in the documentary as Person A was allegedly linked to the Thierafurth Inn attack.

Even though the PSNI’s Legacy Investigation Branch (LIB) is to re-examine the circumstances surrounding the Thierafurth Inn shootings, Mr McEvoy’s lawyers claimed there will be an unlawful delay of several years.

The attack had been 542nd in a queue within the LIB’s case sequencing model, with no indication of when it will be considered due to limited resources.

Last year, the High Court held that the new material casts real doubt on the ability of the original RUC investigation to bring those responsible to justice.

Although the judge found nothing to suggest the LIB investigation will be ineffective, he pointed out that the new material has been in the public domain for up to six years without prompting any action by the state.