UK Supreme Court to rule on case of 'Hooded Men' detained in Northern Ireland in 1971

Margaret McQuillan, the sister of Jean Smyth, who died in Belfast in 1972. Picture: PA

Senior officers are waiting for a UK Supreme Court ruling on whether the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is sufficiently independent to carry out investigations into two events during the Troubles in Ulster half a century ago.

Seven justices based in London heard arguments at a UK Supreme Court hearing in June relating to proposed police investigations into the killing of a Catholic woman in 1972 and the treatment of 12 people, who have become known as the “hooded men”, detained in 1971.