Wright father wins inquiry ruling

LVF leader Billy Wright was shot dead in the Maze Prison in 1997

The father of LVF leader Billy Wright has won a ruling over how the inquiry into his son's murder is conducted.

Initially the inquiry was to be carried out under the Prisons Act, but it was changed to the 2005 Inquiries Act by tribunal chairman Lord McLean.

This would effectively have given a minister the right to terminate an inquiry at any time and so allow for evidence to be kept secret.

Mr Justice Deeny ruled on Thursday that this was unlawful.

The judge said Secretary of State Peter Hain had failed to take into account the importance of the inquiry's independence.

He said he did not suspect bad faith on the part of Mr Hain but that he had been ill-advised.

The nature of the Wright inquiry has yet to be determined.

A spokesman for the NIO said the secretary of state was disappointed by the judgement and would study it carefully.

He said the the decision to convert the inquiry to the Inquiries Act was taken at the request of the independent tribunal chairman, Lord McLean.

Wright, 37, was shot dead by three INLA prisoners in the Maze Prison on 27 December 1997.

Former Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy announced the public inquiry into Wright's killing in November 2004 following allegations of security force collusion in his murder.