No comfort letters for Shankill Road bomb suspects, court told

None of the six suspects identified over the IRA Shankill Road bombing received so-called comfort letters issued in the controversial On The Runs scheme, the High Court in Belfast has heard.

Counsel for Northern Ireland secretary Theresa Villiers and the PSNI gave the assurance as he resisted a legal challenge brought by a woman who lost three relatives in the incident.

Alan Kane QC, for Elizabeth Morrison (81), argued the secretive process linked to nearly 300 murders was unlawful and represented a wilful abandonment of evidence gathering opportunities.

Mrs Morrison's son Michael, his partner Evelyn Baird and their daughter Michelle (seven) were among 10 people killed in the October 1993 Belfast attack.

Her legal challenge centres on a press report that one of the suspects who fled into the Republic was among nearly 200 republicans in receipt of a letter stating he was not wanted by police.

The On The Runs scheme provoked outrage after Co Donegal man John Downey’s trial on charges linked to the 1982 London Hyde Park bombing collapsed in February 2014.

Paramilitaries

He had been mistakenly sent a government letter saying he was not wanted for questioning by police and the full scale of the scheme involving other republican paramilitary suspects then emerged.

Mrs Morrison’s High Court action had been put on hold pending the outcome of separate judicial and parliamentary inquiries into the process.

An independent review of the scheme noted failures but concluded the letters were lawful and not an amnesty.

The legal challenge resumed on Friday with Mr Justice Maguire questioning if the case has been rendered academic by the government now "disowning" the letters.

Tony McGleenan QC, for Ms Villiers and the PSNI, argued there was no proper basis for continuing the challenge as none of the suspects were recorded as having received a letter of comfort.

Mr Justice Maguire reserved judgment on the application for leave to seek a judicial review.