Police apologise over Norman Moffatt murder inquiry failings

Norman Moffatt, 73, was attacked as he walked along Railway Road in Coleraine

The police have apologised to the family of a Coleraine pensioner after a watchdog review found multiple failings in an investigation of his murder.

Norman Moffatt, 73, was attacked as he walked along Railway Road in Coleraine, County Londonderry, in January 2001. He died two months later.

A subsequent review from the Police Ombudsman identified shortcomings in the police investigation.

The police said they accepted the reports finding unequivocally.

In response to the apology, Mr Moffatt's son Barry said: "It will always be hard to digest that our father's murder was solvable but will now never be due to the mistakes of the police."

Mr Moffatt's family lodged a complaint with the ombudsman following the acquittal of a man charged with the 73-year-old's murder in 2013.

ACC Mark McEwan said police apologised sincerely for the failings

The ombudsman's review upheld the complaint, discovering a number of flaws in the police investigation.

It stated that there had been a failure to forensically examine blood on the pavement, which "may have assisted in the identification of a suspect."

The ombudsman described the initial search for a weapon as being "cursory".

It added: "Documentation indicated that no thorough search to include nearby gardens or rooftops was conducted" until after Mr Moffatt had passed away.

The review also found that police failed to conduct some house-to-house enquiries in a timely manner.

It was established that one witness statement was not recorded until five years after the incident.

The review also stated there was "a strong possibility that evidence was lost or at the very least contaminated" by a delay in examining some of Mr Moffatt's clothing after the attack.

It was noted that some items were not retrieved from his family until several months after he died.

The man acquitted of Mr Moffatt's murder was James McCook.

The trial collapsed over witness evidence.

The ombudsman noted he was considered the main suspect and that he has since passed away in England.

'Sincerely apologise'

"I recognise that the family of Mr Moffatt have had to live with this horrendous attack for many years," Assistant Chief Constable Mark McEwan said in a statement.

"I want to sincerely apologise for all the failings which have been highlighted in our handling of this case."

The senior officer added that the service has "since transformed our professional investigative practices".

Barry Moffatt said the police did not take the case seriously enough until two months after the attack, when the pensioner died from his injuries.

He added: "We have had very few answers about what happened but have battled on for all these years knowing that things were not done properly by the police".

"Out of respect for mum we held off questioning the role of the Police Serve of Northern Ireland until it became clear to us that the investigation it had carried out was seriously flawed.

"Whilst we appreciate the apology today it has been difficult for us to process that our father's killer will not face justice as a result of police failings."

The family's lawyer, Gavin Booth, added: "Not only were the circumstances of Norman's murder brutal, but the subsequent investigation - or perceived lack thereof - poured salt into the wounds of a grieving family."