An investigation by the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman has found that the death of a girl while in the car of an off-duty RUC officer almost 15 years ago was a tragic accident.
Nuala O'Loan criticised the forensic investigation carried out by the RUC at the time, but she rejected an allegation that the officer lied about knowing Alice McLoughlin (16) and that police conspired to cover up the relationship after the shooting in July 1991.
The Ombudsman said: "I suspect that if the forensic strategy had been more thorough, it may have dealt with many of the issues which were to cause Alice's family concern over the years and have answered many of the allegations which the police officer had to face."
An inquest found Alice's death was as a result of a bullet wound to her head consistent with self-infliction. The Portadown teenager's family have never accepted that she took her own life and undertook its own investigation.
The family made a complaint to Mrs O'Loan's office in December 2003 that included more than 30 allegations about the officer and the investigation into Alice's death.
The RUC opened a murder case, but the Department of Public Prosecutions subsequently ruled the officer should not face criminal charges.
However, he was later disciplined for failing to secure his gun properly.
In her report, the Ombudsman partly upheld a complaint that there were significant forensic failings in the RUC investigation.
These included the fact that the car was never examined to establish the cause of damage to its interior. The family believes this damage may have indicated a struggle took place.
The car was also never examined to determine if there had been a third person in it and police released the vehicle without consulting the McLoughlin family or the coroner.
Police Ombudsman investigators established that, despite the suspicions of the McLoughlin family, Alice's best friend was not in the car when Alice was shot.
The Police Ombudsman's Office said there were very clear failures in the RUC investigation into Alice's death but said there was no evidence to support the family's contention that officers attempted to pervert the course of justice.
But the report does note that the senior officer, now retired, who handled the investigation into Alice's death refused to co-operate with Mrs O'Loan's inquiry.