PSNI chief apologises over murder weapon exhibit

The families of victims of a loyalist gun attack have accepted a police apology after the weapon used in the murders was discovered in a museum.

Five Catholics were killed when the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) opened fire in Sean Graham's bookmaker's shop on Ormeau Road in February 1992.

Chief Constable George Hamilton met the families to say sorry on behalf of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

The families praised his apology, which they described as "heartfelt".

They said he explained that it did not happen on his watch as PSNI chief constable, but promised to co-operate with further inquiries into their case.

Police officers had previously told the relatives that the murder weapon had been officially "disposed of" but last month, the BBC Panorama's programme revealed that it had turned as an exhibit in the Imperial War Museum in London.

The VZ58 rifle had been on display in this cabinet at the Imperial War Museum

The programme said that investigators given the task of re-examining paramilitary murders in Northern Ireland had found the gun on display in an exhibit on the Troubles.

The assault rifle was used in seven unsolved murders, five of them in the bookie's shop attack.

The weapon has now been removed from display and is undergoing further tests.

'Hurt'

The victims of the Ormeau Road shooting included a 15-year-old boy, James Kennedy.

After the meeting with the Chief Constable, Billy McManus, whose father was also killed in the attack, said: "It was a heartfelt apology. He did say in the meeting, he is a human being."

He added that firstly, Mr Hamilton acknowledged the "hurt" caused to the families by the manner in which they found out about the gun exhibit.

"He did give us a full commitment that he will back the Police Ombudsman and the third one was that, if you've broken the law in any part of collusion, the full force of the law is going to come down on you," Mr McManus added.

The meeting with the PSNI chief was facilitated by Relatives for Justice (RFJ).

RFJ spokesman Mark Thompson said Mr Hamilton made a "fulsome apology" and promised that the PSNI would co-operate fully with the ombudman's investigation into the case.