Ex-soldiers lose anonymity bid

Rosemary Nelson died in a car bomb in March 1999

Twelve ex-soldiers have lost their High Court attempt to stop the Rosemary Nelson Inquiry revealing their names.

The ex-RIR soldiers said they feared being targeted if named, but Mr Justice Weatherup held the public interest in the transparency outweighed any risks.

Their application for judicial review of a decision by the tribunal examining collusion allegations was dismissed.

They will not be called to give oral evidence but the book of evidence and the inquiry website will name them.

Mrs Nelson, 40, died after a booby-trap bomb left by loyalists exploded under her car in March 1999.

Retired judge Sir Michael Morland is chairing a three-strong panel examining alleged security force collusion.

Inquiry's remit

Under its remit, the inquiry must determine whether the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), Northern Ireland Office (NIO), Army or other state agency facilitated the murder, or blocked attempts to investigate it.

The collusion allegations arose because of Mrs Nelson's role as the legal representative in a number of high profile cases, including that of the nationalist Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition in Portadown.

The soldiers' lawyer had claimed that since leaving the Army they had continued to avoid being identified as former RIR soldiers.

The lawyer said they feared they would be targeted by dissident republican elements, as membership of the regiment was perceived as demonstrating some sort of affinity with loyalism.