Cold case investigation a 'right'

A man who lost his brother on Bloody Sunday has said people who died during the Troubles have a right to have their deaths fully investigated.

Liam Wray was responding to a report from the NI Affairs Committee which said the high cost of such inquiries is "financially unsustainable".

Mr Wray said it was the police's responsibility to fully investigate the circumstances of such deaths.

"Anything else is putting a price on justice and on people's lives."

The Policing the Past report found that out of more than 1,100 unsolved murders from the Troubles re-opened by the Historical Enquiries Team (HET), just one has been put forward for prosecution.

It said the £34m project re-examining more than 3,200 killings needed reviewed, and warned the cost of the HET and associated investigations could spiral to more than £45m - 60% over the original budget.

Committee chairman Sir Patrick Cormack said he was worried about the impact of historical investigations on the PSNI's workload.

"We are concerned about the impact of this in relation to the police service's primary role in policing the present," he said.