Court of Appeal affirms ruling on public inquiry in Sean Brown case

By David Young (PA)

The Court of Appeal in Belfast has affirmed a High Court ruling ordering the Government to hold a public inquiry into the murder of GAA official Sean Brown.

The Appeal Court judges said the order compelling Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn to establish an inquiry would come into effect on June 2.

Mr Benn has already signalled an intent to take the case to the Supreme Court.

He had asked the court to give him a further four weeks before making a final order on the case but judges decided to make their determination on Friday.

The courtroom in Belfast was packed with supporters of the Brown family who accompanied Mr Brown’s widow Bridie and her children to the hearing.

Mr Brown, 61, the chairman of Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAA club in Co Londonderry, was ambushed, kidnapped and murdered by loyalist paramilitaries as he locked the gates of the club in May 1997. No-one has ever been convicted of his killing.

Preliminary inquest proceedings last year heard that in excess of 25 people had been linked by intelligence to the murder, including several state agents.

It had also been alleged in court that surveillance of a suspect in the murder was temporarily stopped on the evening of the killing, only to resume again the following morning.

The family of Mr Brown were applauded by a large crowd of supporters as they arrived at the Court of Appeal for Friday’s hearing.

Stormont First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald were among those who walked with the Brown family as they approached the court building.

On Wednesday, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn sought leave for a Supreme Court appeal in the case.

The move had been heavily criticised by the Brown family and their supporters.

Mr Benn has not confirmed he ultimately intends to take the case to the Supreme Court, but applied for “protective leave” to appeal to the UK’s highest court if he believes that course of action to be “necessary”.

The Court of Appeal, as is routine practice, dismissed the application for leave to the Supreme Court.

That places the onus on Mr Benn to apply directly to the Supreme Court for leave to hear an appeal.

Supporters of the family of GAA official Sean Brown, with widow Bridie Brown (centre), daughter Siobhan Brown (centre left), daughter Clare Loughran (centre right), First Minister of Northern Ireland Michelle O'Neill (2nd right) and Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald (right) take part in a protest outside Belfast's Court of Appeal Hearing (Photo by PA)