Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Anger in UK at blunder in IRA bomb case

 

A MAN charged with the IRA killing of four soldiers in London's Hyde Park in 1982 has been freed from custody after a judge ruled that he had received secret British assurances he wouldn't be arrested. 

 
The judge said British authorities in Northern Ireland in 2007 provided John Downey with a confidential document promising him he would not be arrested if he entered the UK.
The 62-year-old Downey, who lives in the Republic of Ireland, was arrested last year at London's Gatwick Airport and charged with four counts of murder over the Hyde Park bomb.
Tuesday's judgment found that the 2007 document issued to Downey gave false assurance, because London police still wanted to arrest him.

Families of the victims of the bloody attack said they felt "devastatingly let down" after the prosecution announced it would not appeal against the decision to throw out the case.
Convicted IRA member Downey denied the murder of the British soldiers and causing an explosion.
The judge, Justice Sweeney, threw the case out after Downey's lawyer successfully argued at the eleventh hour that the defendant should not go on trial at the Old Bailey.

At an earlier hearing, Henry Blaxland QC warned of the political ramifications in Northern Ireland of pursuing a trial against Downey in such circumstances, saying the false assurance he received was "not just negligent, it was downright reckless".

The legal wrangle raises questions with the Police Service of Northern Ireland which, the court heard, knew about the UK arrest warrant for Downey but did nothing to correct the error of 2007.
Members of the victims' families were in the public gallery last Friday when the judge presented his ruling at the Old Bailey. Downey, who was sitting separately in the courtroom, declined to comment.
The final ruling could not be reported until after the prosecution announced on Tuesday it would not appeal against the decision.

Relatives of the four soldiers said in a statement: "It is with great sadness and bitter disappointment that we have received the full and detailed judgment and that a trial will now not take place.
"This news has left us all feeling devastatingly let down, even more so when the monumental blunder behind this judgement lies at the feet of the Police Service of Northern Ireland."

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