Police ombudsman under scrutiny

An inquiry is to be carried out by British MPs into the performance, efficiency and effectiveness of the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman, it was announced tonight.

The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee said it was to conduct the inquiry into the functions of the Office of the Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan.

The committee said it wished to look at progress towards developing a role for the Police Ombudsman since the office was established in November 2000.

It said it also wanted to study the performance of the office in respect of its principal activities and the “efficiency and effectiveness of the administration and expenditure of the office”, including its performance against key indicators and targets.

The committee, chaired by Conservative MP Michael Mates, invited any individual or organisation with an interest to submit written evidence to them by late March.

Meanwhile the Ombudsman is to investigate the killing of a policewoman more than a decade ago at the request of her family.

The probe comes amid claims that Special Branch failed to prevent the attack in which she died.

The Ombudsman’s office confirmed it was to investigate the killing of Constable Colleen McMurray who was murdered in an IRA attack on her police vehicle in Newry, Co Down in 1992.

Police informer Kevin Fulton has claimed the constable was murdered, in an attack in which a colleague lost his legs, despite Special Branch having been warned of the impending incident by a British agent.

Democratic Unionist Party MP Jeffrey Donaldson said the family just wanted to know the truth.

He said the Ombudsman was going to look at “what intelligence was made available to the security services prior to the murder and how that intelligence was handled during the police investigation”.