Pat Finucane: Family of Killed Lawyer Says Decision Not to Conduct Public Inquiry is ‘Insult’ | UK News

The family of murdered Belfast lawyer Pat Finucane says the government’s decision not to conduct a public inquiry is an “insult”.

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis told the Commons on Monday that there would be no public inquiry into Finucane’s death “at this time.”

His son John told Sky News the decision was “less than a jerk.”

While speaking to the media, he added: “We are very angry. What the British government proposed to us today was nothing less than an insult.”

“The British government, at every opportunity, will continue to make the wrong decision and will do their best to ensure that the truth of what happened to my father does not come out and they are determined to suppress that.”

The decision comes after a court ruling determined that an “effective investigation” had not been carried out into his death at the hands of loyal paramilitaries.

Mr Finucane, a 39-year-old lawyer who represented Republican and loyalist paramilitaries during the riots, was shot and killed at his family’s North Belfast home in February 1989.

He was killed by the Ulster Defense Association in an attack that was found to involve collusion with the state.

Investigations by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Police Ombudsman will continue.

Finucane’s son Michael said his family is “disappointed” but “not surprised” by the decision.

Speaking after a virtual call with Lewis, Michael said: “I think we were quite angry and exasperated by the Secretary of State’s conclusion on the matter because he has proposed that the case be solved through an investigation by police in Northern Ireland.

“I don’t think anyone, looking at the evidence in this case and the agencies involved, would propose with any degree of credibility that this could be handled by local law enforcement.”

Finucane’s widow, Geraldine, and the couple’s three children have been lobbying for decades for a public investigation, which they hope can establish the extent of the security forces’ involvement.

In light of the decision, they have pledged to continue campaigning until their questions are answered.

The Supreme Court ruled last year that all previous death examinations had failed to meet human rights standards.

The court noted that Ms. Finucane had received an “unequivocal commitment” from the government following the 2001 Weston Park agreement that a public investigation into the murder would take place.

However, the Supreme Court justices concluded that the government had been justified in later deciding not to carry out one.

He said it was up to the government to decide what form of investigation was required now, if feasible.

In the midst of a government delay in responding to the ruling, Ms. Finucane initiated a new judicial review process against the state.

And Lewis’s lawyers gave a Belfast High Court judge an undertaking last month that a decision would be announced by November 30.

In a statement, Mr. Lewis said: “I have spoken with the Finucane family this afternoon, I have communicated my decision not to establish a public investigation at this time.”

But he told parliamentarians that he “is not eliminating the possibility of a public investigation at this stage,” adding that the processes of the PSNI and the police ombudsman must proceed without risk of undermining the emerging conclusions of their work.

PSNI Police Chief Simon Byrne said: “In our opinion, there are currently no new lines of investigation.

“Now we have to decide if it deserves further review given all the previous research on this case.

“Once we have determined that, we will inform the Finucane family.”

Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Louise Haigh said: “That this crime could occur in our country is shocking, that it has never been legally investigated is unjustifiable.

“We have to ask ourselves, as we do with all the legacy issues with The Troubles, do we accept a lower standard of justice for the citizens of Northern Ireland than we would accept if this terrible crime had occurred in our constituencies?”

He added: “Today’s announcement is a painful setback for those who have campaigned for the truth for decades and with faith that the government is committed to reconciliation.”

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said Brandon Lewis had “failed miserably” in doing the right thing on the part of Pat Finucane’s family.

He said: “I do not thank (Brandon Lewis) at all for that statement. The British state assassinated Pat Finucane and the secretary of state has failed miserably to do the right thing for his family today.”