Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Loughinisland: New judge to be appointed
‘Unprecedented’ ruling in atrocity case
LOUGHINISLAND relatives have welcomed a judge’s decision to step aside from a legal challenge to a finding of collusion in the massacre.
Mr Justice Mccloskey said he was passing a judicial review on the killings to another judge to ensure the families of six men shot dead by loyalists retained confidence in the justice system.
He had faced an application to recuse himself from the challenge against the police watchdog’s collusion finding amid claims he potentially held a subconscious bias due to his role as a barrister in a similar case involving the Ombudsman’s office 16 years ago.
He rejected that bid yesterday insisting it fell short of the legal bar for recusal by a “considerable distance”. The judge was scathing of the application, branding elements of it “flimsy, artificial and entirely unpersuasive”.
However, to the surprise of onlookers at Belfast High Court he then announced he would step away from the case to alleviate any concerns the families had about the legal process.
He said his decision to pass the case to another judge was “unprecedented”.
Mr Justice Mccloskey delivered a damning judgment against Police Ombudsman Dr Michael Maguire last month, ruling he had exceeded his statutory powers by declaring officers guilty of colluding in the UVF pub attack in Co Down in 1994.
He had not yet ruled on whether the watchdog’s findings should be quashed.
The Ombudsman’s conclusions still stand pending the outcome of a new hearing.
Emma Rogan, whose father Adrian was killed at Loughinisland, said she respected the judge’s decision.
She added: “All we ever wanted was the truth. I will be here fighting for truth and justice until I have no fight left in me.”