Commission calls for inquiry into Billy Wright killing

The North’s Human Rights Commission has called for an independent inquiry into the murder of LVF leader Billy Wright in the Maze prison in December 1997.

The commission said that, even though three INLA men were convicted of the murder, some relevant facts have still not been established.

Wright was shot dead in the LVF wing of the Maze prison by a team of INLA inmates who had breached the security fence keeping rival paramilitaries apart. It is still not known how the INLA managed to smuggle guns into the prison or how the group managed to access the LVF wing without being detected.

Mr Wright’s father, David, called for independent inquiry into his son’s murder in 1999. Shortly afterwards, the INLA issued a statement saying that officials in the prison had not colluded in the killing and insisting that the three men convicted of the murder were the only ones involved.