Watchdog finds ‘no credible evidence’ that shot teenager was trying to surrender
By David Young, PA
The police ombudsman for Northern Ireland has found “no credible evidence” to verify a claim that a teenager shot dead by police in 1982 was trying to surrender before being killed.
Michael Tighe, 17 was shot by the RUC at a hayshed in Lurgan, Co Armagh, in one of several incidents that year linked to allegations of a police shoot-to-kill policy.
Another man was seriously injured in the shooting.
The RUC, in co-operation with MI5, was conducting a covert surveillance operation on the shed at the time.
The operation was mounted amid suspicion the hayshed was being used by republican paramilitaries as an explosives store.
Michael Tighe and the other man were in the hayshed when three members of the RUC Headquarters mobile support unit (HMSU) approached and opened fire on November 24th 1982.
The officers involved said they had challenged the two occupants of the shed before opening fire. No shots were fired at police during the operation. Three old single shot rifles corroded with rust were found inside the shed, but no ammunition was present.
In 2021, the Police Ombudsman’s Office received a referral from the PSNI, in which a member of the public provided information he claimed was relevant to the shooting.
The information included a copy of a manuscript purportedly written by the man’s ex-wife about her experiences when deployed as a military officer in Northern Ireland.
It included references to alleged contact she had with the RUC officer responsible for the fatal shooting of Michael Tighe and included an apparent admission by him that “even though Tighe had put his arms up as a sign that he was surrendering, he had shot him”.
The ombudsman launched a formal investigation into the evidence.
Investigators identified, traced and interviewed a number of witnesses and the provenance of the documents provided to the PSNI was also examined.
The woman alleged to have written the manuscript containing the apparent admission spoke to police ombudsman investigators.
She refuted the allegation that the police officer had told her that Michael Tighe had tried to surrender.
The probe did not identify any other evidence that may have supported the version of events in the manuscript first provided to the PSNI.
Police ombudsman Marie Anderson said, as a result, there was no basis to pursue the investigation further.
“Where a police investigation has already taken place, I may only open a fresh investigation if there is new evidence which has come to light that was not reasonably available at the time the matter originally occurred,” she said.
“I am also prohibited from investigating matters that occurred outside the statutory time limit unless the matter is grave or exceptional.
“Given the matter was grave and there was new evidence I decided to commence an investigation into the matters referred by the chief constable.
“My investigation was hampered in a number of respects.
“Firstly, there was a reluctance by the woman who authored the manuscript to constructively engage with my investigators.
“Secondly, the provenance of the documentation which was provided to PSNI could not be established. I was also concerned about the credibility and motivation of the man making the allegations.
“The shooting of Michael Tighe has been the subject of a number of police investigations, including the Stalker/Sampson investigation (into the shoot-to-kill allegations), none of which have led to the prosecution of any police officer in respect of the fatal shooting.
“Nor is there is any credible evidence to establish the veracity of the comment in the manuscript that Michael Tighe was trying to surrender when fatally shot by police.
“Given these facts, there was no basis on which to pursue the investigation of this matter further.”
Ms Anderson said, given the gravity of the allegations made, it was appropriate for the PSNI to have referred the matter to her office.
