Report on UVF bar attack ‘the first to accept State collusion’

A DRAFT report linking a UVF killing of three IRA men to UDR soldiers is the “first time a state report confirms collusion,” a solicitor representing the victims’ families has said.

The families of those killed in the Boyle’s Bar attack in Cappagh, Co Tyrone, obtained a draft report by the now defunct Historical Enquiries Team, according to the BBC.

IRA members Malcolm Nugent (20), John Quinn (23) and Dwayne O’Donnell (17) were killed in the 1991 attack as they pulled up outside the bar.

A fourth victim, Thomas Armstrong (52), was inside the bar at the time and was killed by shots coming through a window.

The report says that in the months after the killings three serving UDR members were named in intelligence reports as being responsible. They were later questioned along with “a close associate” but never charged, the BBC reported. A possible MI5 connection was also raised.

Two rifles used in the attack were linked to 11 other incidents between 1998 and 1993, including the UVF murders of Charles and Theresa Fox in Moy in 1992.

The arrests of the soldiers, the report says, was in a joint police and army operation which reviewed “concerns of security service collusion in east Tyrone”.

The review adds “the same men were also named as (being) responsible for other murders”.

LVF leader Billy Wright was reportedly interviewed in connection with the murders along with another man said to be a member of the Portadown UVF. The report found no new lines of inquiry opportunities which could lead to the identification or prosecution of those involved.

Gavin Booth, of Phoenix Law, who is representing the families, said the document represented “the first time a state report confirms collusion” in the case. The families hope to meet with the PSNI soon to discuss the case.

Clockwise from top left, Dwayne O’Donnell, John Quinn, Malcom Nugent and Thomas Armstrong