THE ROSEMARY Nelson inquiry was predominantly charged with determining whether “any wrongful act or omission” by the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the Northern Ireland Office (NIO), British army or British intelligence services contributed to the murder of Lurgan solicitor Rosemary Nelson. Inquiry chairman Sir Michael Morland and his colleagues found there was no evidence of any active collusion by these agencies in her murder in March 1999. She died in a car bomb explosion outside her home, claimed by the Red Hand Defenders, a cover name for the Loyalist Volunteer Force.
But the inquiry found that there were actions by RUC members that made Ms Nelson a target of loyalist paramilitaries. It further held that there were “omissions” by the police and the NIO that “rendered her more at risk and more vulnerable” to attack. It also found that members of the RUC publicly abused and assaulted Ms Nelson during the Drumcree standoff of 1997, leaked information and made threatening remarks about her – all of which helped to set her up as a “trophy target” for loyalists. It did not rule out “rogue” police officers or British soldiers assisting her killers.
It is clear from the report that there was a culture within elements of the RUC and the NIO who were hostile to Ms Nelson, and also to other lawyers who represented republican clients. Certain officials and police officers could not or would not make the necessary distinction between the solicitor and some of the clients she represented.
The fact that she successfully acted for Lurgan republican Colin Duffy on one murder appeal and two murder charges damned her at grassroots loyalist level and also among many police officers and some NIO officials. He is now on remand charged with the murder of two British soldiers two years ago. Her acting as solicitor for the nationalist Garvaghy Road residents during the annual Drumcree disputes of that period also made her a hate figure for loyalists.
Northern Ireland was beginning to emerge from conflict in 1999 but, then as now, the duties and responsibilities of police and officialdom to the legal profession – one of the bulwarks of democracy – were clearly laid down. Yet this report found that “there was a corporate failure by the RUC to warn Rosemary Nelson of her vulnerability and offer her security advice”. Omissions by the RUC and NIO meant the British state “failed to take reasonable and proportionate steps to safeguard” Ms Nelson’s life.
Little wonder the Nelson family described the findings as “damning”. Her brother, Eunan Magee, still hopes that eventually someone will be made accountable for the murder. The PSNI Chief Constable Matt Baggott said police would not hesitate to act “if there is any possibility, whatsoever” of apprehending her killers. One telling aspect of the report is that it contains no recommendations. This is of little comfort to the Nelson family but it is an indication that the necessary police reforms that were proposed six months after her murder in the Patten report are now virtually all in place.