RUC perjury charges 'were option' over woman's death

Prosecuting authorities should have considered perjury charges against RUC officers over the plastic bullet death of a Belfast woman, judges have ruled.

But a legal challenge brought by the husband of Nora McCabe was dismissed partly because of the near 25-year delay in bringing the case.

Mr McCabe was seeking an order to quash the decision not to prosecute two officers for murder or manslaughter.

His 33-year-old wife was killed in July 1981 at Linden Street, west Belfast.

She was returning from shops when she was hit on the back of the head with a baton round during disturbances in the area.

Both the sergeant who fired the fatal shot and his commanding chief superintendent have since died.

After studying police investigation files and statements, the Director of Public Prosecutions concluded the evidence was insufficient to warrant criminal proceedings against any officers.

'Heavy attack'

At an inquest in 1982 RUC witnesses claimed the road was strewn with beer barrels and concrete blocks. They said their Land Rover was coming under heavy attack with petrol bombs and stones.

But as part of judicial review proceedings brought by Mrs McCabe's husband Jim, film footage taken by Canadian cameramen at the scene was produced in a bid to "demolish" the credibility of the police account.

Mr McCabe's lawyers alleged officers had closed ranks and lied under oath to protect two colleagues from facing murder charges.

Ruling on the case, Lord Justice Coghlin concluded that, based on all the evidence available in 1983, the decision not to prosecute was one that was open to the DPP and could not be condemned as irrational.

Dealing with the second part of the case, the judge held there was nothing in the papers to suggest consideration had been given to charging police officers with perjury or perverting the course of justice.

He said it was not in doubt that a number of DPP/PPS officers were aware of significant factual conflicts between the evidence of a number of police officers and the events depicted on the video film.

The judge said consideration ought to have been given to the offence of perjury.

However, he said there was no explanation for the near-25 year delay in the legal case.

Lord Justice Coghlin expressed sympathy for Mr McCabe's "sense of powerlessness and frustration that no one has been made amenable for his wife's death".

But he insisted the court must act fairly and impartially, adding: "Any positive decision to prosecute at this stage could only be regarded as unfair and wholly disproportionate and would inevitably be the subject of successful abuse of process applications."

Outside the court Mr McCabe said: "I'm deeply, deeply disappointed that they didn't find or officially state that Nora was in fact murdered by a member of the RUC.

"But I feel vindicated in taking this case because we have had information open to us which would never have surfaced or been published prior to the present political state we are in."