Families of UVF shooting victims refuse to give up after inquiry request rejected

Kevin McKearney, 32, was shot dead by a UVF gunman in his family’s butcher shop in the village of Moy in January 1992. His uncle Jack McKearney, 69, was injured in the same attack and died in hospital three months later.

Later that year, Kevin McKearney’s mother-in-law and father-in-law, Charlie and Teresa Fox – aged 63 and 54 respectively – were shot dead by the UVF in their home in Moy.

Earlier this year, a coroner said he had been prevented from giving a “report” on the events after the government challenged the giving of that report in court.

Judge Richard Greene KC also said he had reached the preliminary view that an inquest into the four deaths could not be held because sensitive files were not the subject of the proceedings for reasons of national security.

On Thursday, the families said Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn had rejected their request for a public inquiry and instead recommended an investigation by the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).

The McKearney family has vowed that they will not give up and will not accept an investigation by the panel created by the previous administration’s Legacy Act.

Kevin McKearney’s widow Bernie said: “We as a family are not giving up.

“Our investigation was stopped by the investigating judge and a public inquiry was recommended.

“We want our investigation and will not accept a weaker body like the ICRIR. Unfortunately, this Foreign Minister is no different from the others before him and now we will go to court to challenge him.”

Kevin McKearney’s sister Angela McKearney added: “We will continue our fight for justice and will now seek an urgent judicial review of the Secretary of State’s decision.”

Lawyer Gavin Booth of the law firm Phoenix Law accused the Labour government of neither repealing nor replacing the Legacy Act.

“The law has not been repealed, let alone replaced. Instead, with this decision, the Secretary of State has expressed his ‘full confidence’ in a body that is not independent and is expressly designed to shield state officials and agents from accountability,” he said.

“This decision is a disgrace.

“To be clear, the families do not accept that ICRIR is able to fulfil its obligation towards their family.

“The family has no confidence in this body and no amount of whitewashing will change the view of this family and all predecessor families of the ICRIR.

“The Foreign Minister should abolish the ICRIR now.”

In response, a British government spokesman said: “The Foreign Secretary has today written to the families of Kevin and John McKearney and Charles and Teresa Fox to inform them of his decision not to open a public inquiry into their deaths.

“The Secretary of State has carefully considered a number of factors in reaching his decision, including the views of the families, the decision of the coroner, the Government’s human rights obligations and important public interest factors.

“He expressed his deepest sympathy to the families and encouraged them to meet with Sir Declan Morgan to understand how the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery would approach an investigation into the deaths of their loved ones.”