RUC investigation into 1991 Belfast murder was ‘ineffective’, ombudsman finds

By Jonathan McCambridge, PA

The RUC investigation into the murder of a man by loyalists in Belfast in 1991 was “ineffective” and not capable of bringing perpetrators to justice, Northern Ireland’s Police Ombudsman has said.

Marie Anderson said complaints from the family of John O’Hara about the investigation were “legitimate and justified”.

Mr O’Hara, a 41-year-old father of five, was working as a taxi driver when he was attacked by gunmen in Dunluce Avenue, south Belfast, on April 17th, 1991.

He had arrived to pick up a fare when a number of men emerged from an alleyway and fired shots through the driver’s side window.

The Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), a loyalist paramilitary group aligned with the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), admitted the murder the following day.

Police said Mr O’Hara had no connection to any political or paramilitary organisation.

Publishing her report, Mrs Anderson said while the original police response was of a good standard, the subsequent murder inquiry was “not capable of bringing those responsible to justice”.

She said the “inadequacy” of the investigation meant it failed to meet the legal obligation under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Mrs Anderson said police investigating the murder failed to effectively pursue relevant suspects, including failing to arrest a significant number of individuals implicated by intelligence reports and other information as having been involved.

Her report also said the murder weapons can no longer be located for analysis using modern forensic techniques, and identified failures to test suspect alibis, to seize a car suspected of being used by the killers, and to conduct adequate forensic inquiries.

However, the ombusdman said she had found nothing to suggest police had information that would have allowed them to prevent the murder.

Police actions surrounding Mr O’Hara’s murder were initially investigated as part of a larger ombudsman investigation which focused on the activities of the UDA in south Belfast between 1993 and 1998.

Mr O’Hara’s killing was not included in the report on this broader investigation, published in 2022, due to the pending prosecution of a man charged in connection to the murder. The trial was halted in December 2023 when the man died.

Mrs Anderson said: “I am mindful that intelligence is not evidence but all investigative agencies rely on intelligence to assist in the investigation of crime.

“Intelligence can provide investigators with new lines of inquiry which may result in subsequent arrests and other investigative opportunities.

“My investigators have viewed intelligence and information that was provided to the murder investigation team that would have enabled them to identify a number of potential suspects to the murder.

“However, no arrests of these individuals followed.”

She said one potential suspect was not arrested despite being connected to the murder by witness evidence and four separate pieces of intelligence received between April and September 1991 – one of which suggested he had been one of the gunmen.

Mrs Anderson also referred to intelligence received by police in late April 1991, which indicated that eight people had been involved in the murder.

She said: “This intelligence provided a significant amount of information about the murder, which I have concluded ought to have been actioned by police.

“However, only three of those people were arrested.”

Her report said another of those named in the intelligence was identified by RUC Special Branch as a possible likeness to a photofit created by witnesses who described a gunman running down the street telling people to stay indoors.

Despite having been identified on the basis of intelligence and witness evidence, he was not arrested, although his home was searched. The search found nothing to assist the investigation of Mr O’Hara’s murder.

Police also raised an investigative action to trace and interview another of the potential suspects, rather than arrest him, the ombudsman’s report said.

“I find it concerning that police had separate pieces of information suggesting that this man may have been linked to Mr O’Hara’s murder yet he was not arrested.

“He was interviewed only as a witness rather than a suspect.”

The ombudsman investigators found no evidence that the alibis provided by three suspects arrested in connection with Mr O’Hara’s murder had been tested by police.

One was interviewed 21 times over three days in April 1991. Mrs Anderson said Mr O’Hara’s murder received only two brief mentions during these interviews.

The report said the suspect stated that he had been at his brother’s house at the time of the murder. Mrs Anderson said there was no evidence that police had conducted inquiries to test this alibi.

The complaint to the ombusdman by Mr O’Hara’s widow included an allegation that she had not been kept updated about the progress of the original police investigation.

As a result, she suspected there had been collusion between police and those involved in the murder.

Mrs Anderson said her investigators had identified and spoken to the officer who had contact with the family during the murder investigation.

He said his point of contact with the family had been Mrs O’Hara’s brother-in-law.

The ombudsman said: “The officer agreed that, because of the pressure of work at that time, together with security concerns regarding the releasing of information, there was insufficient contact with all families who found themselves in similar circumstances during this time period.

“This is a systemic issue that I have identified in other similar cases.”

The ombudsman’s investigation found no collusion in relation to the allegation of failures by police to update Mrs O’Hara about her husband’s murder.