KILLING OF BILLY WRIGHT:THERE WAS no collusion or deliberate wrongdoing by the British state in the INLA murder of loyalist paramilitary leader Billy Wright in the Maze prison 13 years ago, a tribunal into the killing has concluded.
The five-year, £30 million inquiry delivers strong criticisms of the Northern Ireland Prison Service, the police and the intelligence services, however.
It outlines a series of failures, both individual and systemic, which facilitated INLA prisoners who shot dead the Loyalist Volunteer Force leader in the prison on December 27th, 1997.
It says these failures, described variously as “wrongful omissions” or “wrongful acts”, were the result of negligence rather than deliberate wrongdoing. The inquiry says it could not establish how two firearms ended up in the hands of Wright’s INLA murderers.
Chairman Lord MacLean recommends a root-and-branch reform of the prison service along the lines of the Patten overhaul of policing. Northern Secretary Owen Paterson and Justice Minister David Ford are to meet on Monday to consider this and other recommendations.
Billy Wright’s father, David, rejected the denial of state collusion, claiming the inquiry conclusions amount “to firm and final proof of collusion by state agencies”. Sinn Féin and the SDLP also questioned the conclusions. Unionists condemned the inquiry’s cost.
In his report, Lord MacLean denounces the holding of hundreds of dangerous paramilitary prisoners in one high-profile prison. “By holding between 500 and 1,000 volatile prisoners in one prison, NI Prison Service created a monster which became iconic in political terms and well nigh ungovernable in operational terms,” he writes.
He is critical of the decision to locate INLA and LVF prisoners in the same H Block at the Maze. This decision was compounded by failures to carry out proper prisoner risk assessments. In particular, the inquiry criticises the classification of the INLA men who killed Wright. Serious management problems at the prison had also not been properly addressed.
The 700-page report cites a series of intelligence failures relating to sharing of information and its analysis. It cites the destruction of documents and the delay in producing others by state officials, detailing how this had hampered the inquiry’s deliberations.
The chairman makes three key recommendations regarding handling of documents and management of prisons in Northern Ireland. The inquiry also calls for an overhaul of the Northern Ireland prison system, and cites as an example of what is needed the Patten Commission’s review of the former RUC, which led to the establishment of the PSNI.
Mr Paterson and Mr Ford should consider ordering a Patten-style investigation which could “pave the way for radical change”.
The inquiry panel reports: “Given what we discovered about the destruction of prisoners’ files, many of which would have been important historical records, we recommend that the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland should satisfy himself whether any other prison records have been destroyed and whether proper retention processes are now observed in the NI Prison Service.”
It says many of the Maze’s problems arose from the fact it was the sole maximum-security prison in the North at the time. Referring to the fact the new jail at Maghaberry is now also the sole maximum security prison, the Secretary of State and the new Justice Minister “should satisfy themselves that any relevant lessons from the Maze have been learned for Maghaberry”.
Inquiry findings: prison service and police criticised
- No state collusion in the murder of Billy Wright, but serious failings by prison service and police.
- Inquiry did not obtain important security files about Maze prisoners because they had been destroyed.
- Two of Wright's INLA killers not properly classified as top-risk.
- Roof defences and fencing had not been properly secured, thus facilitating INLA gunmen who shot Wright.
- INLA prisoners were not locked in their cells at night. Prison Service had not properly informed prison officers of their clear operational instructions.
- Serious failure on part of the prison service to deal with recognised problems at the Maze.
- No risk-assessment on decision to locate INLA and LVF prisoners in same building.
- H Block 6 prison service did not properly consider warning by International Committee of the Red Cross that H Block 6 was a "powder keg".
RECOMMENDATIONS
- A Patten-style commission be established to advise on prison service reform.
- Minister for Justice and Northern Secretary should satisfy themselves that lessons learned from the Maze should be applied in the new prison at Maghaberry.
- Minister for Justice and Northern Secretary should establish if other important prison documents have been destroyed and whether proper retention methods are in place.