Attorney General clears PPS of Thomas Devlin case blame

Baroness Scotland dismissed criticism of the PPS

The Attorney General Baroness Scotland has defended the Public Prosecution Service's handling of the Thomas Devlin murder case.

The PPS was criticised by the victim's parents for its initial decision not to prosecute the men who were convicted on Wednesday of killing the 15-year-old.

But Baroness Scotland said the PPS had faced a "difficult case" and should be congratulated for securing convictions.

She dismissed suggestions that the service had been too cautious.

On Wednesday Nigel Brown, 26, of Whitewell Road and Gary Taylor, 23, from Mountcollyer Avenue in Belfast, were convicted of murdering Thomas in the north of the city.

Speaking after the convictions Thomas Devlin's mother, Penny Holloway, said that her grief had been compounded by the "spectacular, public and abysmally abject failure of the PPS to properly carry out its function".

The PPS decided in July 2008 that there was no evidence able to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction of Brown or Taylor in relation to Thomas' death.

Courage

Mrs Holloway said that the PPS only decided to revisit that decision following "considerable pressure" from her and her husband.

That included writing to Baroness Scotland.

However speaking on Thursday, the Attorney General rejected Mrs Holloway's complaints and said credit for the conviction should be shared between the PPS, which she said was "courageous", and Thomas' family.

She added: "I wish to congratulate the family because they showed courage, and tenacity and determination in relation to this, but by the same token, the prosecutors responded appropriately and took - as much as they could - the advice of those who allowed this case to come about."

Baroness Scotland stressed that the fact that the PPS in Northern Ireland took independent advice from England should not be a cause for concern.

"The people of Northern Ireland should be very confident, understanding that the director (of public prosecutions) will go wherever he needs to go to get the right advice and to make sure the right sort of decision is taken," she said.