Judgement delivered in the High Court

6th March 2003 --

The family of Kathleen Thompson, shot dead by the British Army on 6th November 1971 in the Creggan in Derry, have welcomed the judgment delivered in the High Court this morning granting her application for Judicial Review, that there was no effective police investigation and even allowing for the different standards at the time, a more rigorous investigation was required.

The family of Mrs. Thompson launched their legal action against the Secretary of State on the basis that they had never received an effective investigation into their mother's death.

Solicitor for the family, Peter Madden today said:

"We lodged these proceedings on behalf of the family after the Pat Finucane Centre and the Spotlight programme highlighted that the RUC/PSNI were unable to even trace the police investigation file into Mrs. Thompson's death. It was clear to us that rather than investigate properly themselves how Mrs. Thompson was killed, the RUC simply accepted what the soldiers' lawyers said happened, even after it became apparent that one soldier had admitted firing shots, suggesting he was responsible for Mrs. Thompson's death.

Today's judgement re-enforces the judgement of the Court of Appeal last month, for the family of Gervaise McKerr, that victims of state violence were denied any effective investigation into their deaths. The Secretary of State must now act to provide all families with the Article 2 complaint investigations they have been denied."