Brown family to pursue public inquiry at UK Supreme Court

The family of murdered GAA chairman Sean Brown will attend the UK's highest court today in pursuit of a public inquiry into his 1997 murder.

They will travel to the UK Supreme Court in London for a hearing where Northern Secretary Chris Bryant is challenging a court order requiring him to establish such an inquiry.

Mr Brown's widow, Bridie, who is almost 90, will not attend.

The case is a long-running and controversial one which has seen the Brown family attend court on up to 60 occasions.

Previous court disclosure has revealed that a number of British state agents were among 25 people linked by intelligence to the loyalist murder plot.

Mr Brown's daughter Siobhán said the family "never wanted to be here in the first place" and the British government should have adhered to the direction of the court.

She said her mother had asked a previous Northern Secretary, Hilary Benn, not to make the family travel to London in pursuit of justice after Northern Ireland's courts found in their favour.

She said she had been "overwhelmed" by the public support for the family with elected representatives and GAA president Jarlath Burns expected to attend court.

Mr Brown was abducted as he locked up Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAA club in south Derry in May 1997.

He was later found shot dead alongside his burnt out car 16km (10 miles) away in Randalstown.

The murder was blamed on the Loyalist Volunteer Force.

A Police Ombudsman investigation found serious discrepancies in the police investigation into the killing.

PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher later apologised to the family and settled a damages claim.

Mr Boutcher has also said that he supports the establishment of a public inquiry.

An inquest into the killing was opened in 1997 but due to delays in legal disclosure only began in March 2023.

Lawyers for the Brown family will argue that a number of issues make their case "exceptional".

These include the inadequacy of the police investigation, the delay in disclosure of relevant information about the murder and the provision of a gist of intelligence information linking state agents to the murder.

They will argue that current legacy arrangements are incapable of providing a human rights compliant investigation and a public inquiry is the only option.

They said forcing the Brown family to go down the route of engaging with current legacy arrangements would produce an "iceberg investigation" resulting in an "outcome in which the majority of sensitive material relating to state agent involvement lies below the waterline unseen by the next of kin and the public".

The Browns have said they will not deal with an investigative body established under existing legacy arrangements.

The British government plans to reform it via legislation making its way through parliament.

Lawyers for the UK government will argue that there was overreach by the courts in ordering a public inquiry in the Brown case, something they will say should be the responsibility of ministers.

"There is nothing so exceptional about this case that makes it a case in which the courts should have overstepped the normal constitutional boundaries and for the first time in any court, anywhere in the UK, ordered that the Executive establish a public inquiry."

They will also rely on a recent decision of the Supreme Court in a separate case, that Northern Ireland's current legacy body is capable of conducting human rights compliant investigations and will argue that it will be further enhanced by further legislative reform.

The case is listed for one day's hearing at the Supreme Court in London, with judgment expected to be reserved.