Sean Brown: GAA official murder revelations 'harrowing'
- Published
The family of Sean Brown have called for a full public inquiry into the murder
Revelations that 25 people, including state agents, were linked to the murder of a GAA official in 1997 were "harrowing" to learn, his daughter has said.
Sean Brown was shot near Randalstown, County Antrim, after he was abducted by the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF).
A counsel for the coroner examining his death gave an update on Tuesday.
The former Police Ombudsman Baroness O'Loan has backed the family's call for a public inquiry.
Speaking on BBC News NI's Good Morning Ulster on Wednesday, Mr Brown's daughter Siobhan said the family always had "an inkling" that state collusion played a role in her father's death.
"To hear yesterday in detail, outlined in court, that there were in excess of 25 individuals linked to daddy's murder was quite harrowing to say the least, quite distressing for myself and other members of the family," she said.
Mr Brown, 61, was abducted in Bellaghy, County Londonderry, and shot near Randalstown.
He was locking the gates of GAA club Bellaghy Wolfe Tones when he was taken by the LVF.
Sean Brown was abducted and murdered in 1997
The inquest into his death opened in March 2023 and it is scheduled to resume next month.
Before this happens, sensitive material relating to the murder must be security-vetted and distributed to the legal parties involved.
The public interest immunity process in the case has been taking place in closed hearings in recent weeks.
'A long process'
Ms Brown said the family have "waited 27 years to get to this position", adding that it has been "a long process".
She continued: "My daddy didn't deserve to lose his life. He treated everyone the same. The reason he lost his life he was a Catholic, he was the chairman of our GAA club.
"He was locking up the gates of the club on the night he lost his life. He was going about a normal thing that happens everywhere but individuals decided my father shouldn't do that anymore and they took his life from him."
Ms Brown said the family are calling for a public inquiry into the murder due to the "volume" of material that has been redacted.
"The coroner is going to find himself in a very difficult position to conclude an inquest when there's loads of material there that he can't divulge in court," she said.
Asked if she backed the call for a public inquiry, former Police Ombudsman Baroness O'Loan told Good Morning Ulster: "The government are resistant to the introduction of public inquiries. Should they do it? Yes, of course they should."
Siobhan Brown at a rally for her father in Londonderry in February
'Enormously concerned'
Baroness O'Loan, who investigated the death in 2004, said she found it "incredible that 27 years on police have finally found information".
"I haven't seen the documents that were disclosed yesterday but I do know there were 19 pieces of intelligence made available to me and that six of them related to and provided helpful information around the murder and its investigation," she said.
"That material should have been available to the coroner without any difficulty so that means there are 25 new people linked to this murder.
"This must have been known at the time and I think it's terrible, and most terrible I think for the Brown family. I don't know how some of these families keep going - 27 years to wait to find out this information."
Baroness Nuala O'Loan said she is shocked by the revelations into Sean Brown's killing
Baroness O'Loan said that had she had access to the new information, her conclusions "would have been a different report".
"I could only report on the evidence which I received," she said. "You can have suspicions but you can't report them as fact unless you can substantiate them by evidence and we didn't have that intelligence."
The Police Ombudsman examination of the case found an RUC investigation into Mr Brown's murder was "incomplete and inadequate".
Sean Brown's body was found in a burnt-out car near Randalstown
Intelligence material
In his update on Tuesday, counsel for the coroner Joseph Aiken KC said documentation shown to the inquest "indicates that in excess of 25 individuals were linked through intelligence to the murder of Sean Brown".
He added: "The intelligence material indicates that those individuals are said to have been involved at the material time with loyalist paramilitaries.
"The intelligence material indicates that at the time of the death of Sean Brown, a number of the individuals linked through intelligence to the murder were agents of the state."
Mr Aiken said the individuals come from different areas of Northern Ireland and are not necessarily linked to one another.
A spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Office said the UK government "acknowledges the suffering caused by the murder of Sean Brown", adding that the Northern Ireland secretary "will carefully consider the coroner's ruling when it is delivered".
A PSNI spokesperson said the organisation is aware that Tuesday will "have been another upsetting and difficult day for the Brown family and we understand the suffering they continue to go through".
They added: "As this is the subject of ongoing inquest proceedings, it would be inappropriate for the Police Service to comment further at this time."