Skip to content

Sean Brown murder inquiry appeal to be fast-tracked

Getty Images The torso of a woman holding a photograph of Sean Brown Getty Images
Sean Brown was shot dead in 1997

An appeal against a ruling ordering the Northern Ireland secretary of state to set up a public inquiry into the murder of GAA official Sean Brown has been fast-tracked to a hearing next week.

The UK government is challenging the judicial direction issued last month after it was found to be in breach of a human rights duty to investigate the full extent of state collusion in the May 1997 killing.

Mr Brown, 61, was abducted by loyalists in Bellaghy, County Londonderry, and shot near Randalstown, County Antrim, in May 1997.

No one has ever been convicted of his murder but a previous inquest was told that state agents had been involved.

Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhán Keegan told the court that "this issue needs dealt with".

The full hearing will take place on 16 January.

She said: "This case has been before the courts now for a long period of time. I will provide expedition."

PA Media Four members of the family are standing underneath a large black umbrella. They have sad facial expressions and are all wearing coats and scarves. PA Media
The family of Sean Brown at a previous court appearance

The barrister for Mr Brown's family said "including today, this is the 56th occasion that the Brown family have been in various courts in relation to this".

Desmond Fahy KC welcomed the date for the hearing.

Last week Mr Brown's daughters, Clare Loughran and Siobhan Brown, told BBC News NI that they were "incredibly disappointed" by the government's legal challenge.

What happened to Sean Brown?

Mr Brown was locking the gates of GAA club Bellaghy Wolfe Tones when he was kidnapped by the paramilitary grouping, the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF).

Early last year, a court heard that more than 25 people, including state agents, had been linked by intelligence material to Mr Brown's murder

Last March, a coroner said Mr Brown's inquest could not continue due to material being withheld on the grounds of national security.

He decided that redactions of intelligence material meant he could not properly investigate the circumstances of the killing.

Instead, he wrote to the then Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris, requesting a public inquiry into the case.

In December, the High Court ruled that current Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn must set up a public inquiry into the murder.