A death threat and "inherently dangerous" abuse directed at Rosemary Nelson, the Armagh solicitor murdered in 1999 by a loyalist bomb, were not handled properly by the RUC, the Police Ombudsman has found.
Nuala O'Loan's investigation into the manner in which police dealt with questions over Mrs Nelson's safety "did not properly consider the particular nature of Mrs Nelson's public profile, or the level of concern about her safety", she said yesterday.
Mrs O'Loan was responding to four allegations made by the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) concerning the RUC handling of Mrs Nelson's security.
Outlining her findings, Mrs O'Loan referred to about 20 incidents, including seven death threats, which gave rise to concern by Mrs Nelson and others on her behalf.
These incidents, investigated previously by the Independent Commission on Police Complaints, the forerunner to Mrs O'Loan's office, found "ill-disguised hostility" towards the solicitor among some RUC officers and this set the context for her investigation.
Referring specifically to the CAJ allegations concerning Mrs Nelson, the Police Ombudsman reported that the committee had forwarded to the Northern Ireland Office a leaflet circulated in Portadown in 1998 which referred to the solicitor in "an abusive and inherently dangerous manner" as well as an anonymous letter received by Mrs Nelson that same year which stated: "We have you in our sights. RIP."
The ombudsman said she could find no evidence that the NIO forwarded the anonymous letter to the police, although the RUC had been sent a general letter about issues raised in both the leaflet and the note.
She found that the RUC was aware of the death threat and concluded that police "did not deal with either the letter or the leaflet properly".
In relation to other allegations, Mrs O'Loan reported there was no evidence that the RUC requested the documents which the NIO had not sent and that it had not initiated any investigation.
However, she found there was no evidence to support a contention that police had possession of loyalist leader Billy Wright's diary prior to her murder, which contained threats against her.
Mrs O'Loan also rejected a complaint that the police had not warned Mrs Nelson about specific threats from certain loyalist factions and a further complaint that the chief constable failed in his responsibility to respond to concerns repeatedly raised by the CAJ.
CAJ director Maggie Beirne greeted the report yesterday, saying: "The ombudsman has confirmed that those threats were not treated with the gravity and urgency required."
She hoped that the tribunal of inquiry into Mrs Nelson's murder will thoroughly explore the circumstances around the killing.
Sinn Féin and the SDLP also welcomed her findings, but DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson said Mrs O'Loan had "failed to acknowledge the extreme circumstances within which the RUC were operating".
However, a spokesman for the ombudsman's office replied: "Mrs O'Loan has regularly acknowledged the difficulties faced by the RUC and the many, many men and women who served it with honour."
Nelson case: the story so far. . .
Rosemary Nelson (40) was a prominent human rights lawyer in Portadown, Co Armagh. She had a range of clients from across the community and had defended suspects in high-profile cases.
She also represented the Garvaghy Road residents who were opposed to Orange marches returning from Drumcree church to their lodge in Portadown town centre. She had been subjected to a number of threats including death threats.
Mrs Nelson, a mother of three, was fatally wounded outside her home by a bomb which had been placed under her car in March 1999 by a group styling itself the Red Hand Defenders.
Her murder was investigated by Canadian judge Peter Cory who recommended to the British government that an independent tribunal of inquiry be established. That tribunal is due to announce the start of formal hearings next month.