PSNI ‘lacks requisite independence to investigate two Troubles incidents’

Hugh Southey QC told judges that one case concerned the fatal shooting of an “unarmed young mother” in circumstances “implicating British Army personnel”.

The Supreme Court in central London (Yui Mok/PA)

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) lacks the “requisite independence” to carry out investigations into two events during the Troubles half a century ago because of a risk of “bias”, a lawyer has argued at a Supreme Court hearing.

Seven Supreme Court judges based in London are hearing arguments 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, at a remote hearing due to end on Wednesday.