The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has dismissed a case brought against Britain by the sister of an IRA volunteer who was shot dead by British soldiers in 1990, despite identifying certain weaknesses in a 2012 inquest.

In a unanimous ruling, the court said it was still satisfied that the inquest had met the requirement under Article 2 (right to life/investigation) of the European Convention on Human Rights to conduct an effective investigation.

'Lawful killing'

A 2012 inquest returned a verdict of “lawful killing”.

The ECtHR concluded that the inquest, 20 years later, had been thorough, and said the important witnesses, including all but one of the soldiers involved in the shooting, had given evidence.

Certain weaknesses were pinpointed, including the failure to disclose to the next of kin material relating to other fatal shootings in which the soldiers had been involved, failure to recall one of the soldiers to give further evidence, and the coroner’s decision not to probe claims that a juror had been hostile towards the next of kin.

However, cumulatively, those weaknesses did not undermine investigation requirements, the ruling has said.

'Manifestly ill-founded'

The court declared the application inadmissible as manifestly ill-founded.

Lawyers for applicant Sally Gribben, whose brother Martin McCaughey and fellow IRA volunteer Desmond Grew were shot and killed by soldiers near Loughgall on 9 October 1990, said they were “disappointed with the court’s decision”.

Neither man fired any weapons but McCaughey was struck by 10 high-velocity bullets, while Grew had 48 bullet wounds. 

Several similar shootings at the time gave rise to allegations of a “shoot-to-kill” policy by security forces in the North.

An RUC investigation concluded that none of the soldiers involved should be prosecuted.