Claudy bomb: Families reach settlement with PSNI and government

The aftermath of the Claudy bombings in July 1972

Relatives of three Claudy bomb victims have settled legal action against the police and Northern Ireland Office.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and Northern Ireland Office (NIO) agreed confidential settlements "without an admission of liability".

Nine people were killed when three bombs exploded in the County Londonderry village in July 1972.

The case centred on investigative failures into the attack, for which the IRA was blamed, but did not admit.

In a statement on Friday, KRW Law, who is representing three families, said both the PSNI and the NIO "have agreed to pay the costs of our clients up to the date of this agreement".

The law firm is representing the families of William Watson Temple,16, David Miller, 60, and James McClelland, 64, who all died in the 1972 bombing.

Kathryn Eakin, the youngest victim, was cleaning the windows of her family's grocery store when the first bomb exploded.

• The victims of the Claudy bombing

In 2013, families of the Claudy Bomb victims said they were taking legal action against the Catholic Church, the police and the government.

In 2010, a Northern Ireland police ombudsman's report said detectives had concluded that the late Father James Chesney, who was later moved to the Republic of Ireland, was a suspect.

It said the police, the state and the Catholic Church had covered up his suspected role in the bombing. No action was ever taken against Fr Chesney, who died in 1980.

Nine people died when three bombs exploded in Claudy. From top left: Rose McLaughlin; Patrick Connolly; David Miller; Kathryn Eakin; Joseph McCluskey; Elizabeth McElhinney; William Temple; Arthur Hone and James McClelland

On Friday, the law firm said their clients' legal proceedings against the Roman Catholic Dioceses of Derry "remain unresolved and will procced".

In a statement, the Temple, Miller and McClelland families said that "they were deeply disappointed in the lack of a proper investigation into the murder of their loved ones".

They said they "look forward" to the findings of their case against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Derry.

Deeply saddened

James Miller, whose grandfather was killed in the attack said the church's "lack of compassion and empathy" had "retraumatised the families".

"I have been deeply saddened and disappointed with the attitude of the church throughout this whole process," he said.

"The ultimate insult came in the legal process when the church showed a total lack of respect for the families by refusing to acknowledge their wrongdoing."

Mr Miller also criticised government plans for the Troubles legacy process.

"We as a family got a lot of answers by entering this process, without which we would not have received information and an understanding about what happened in Claudy that fateful day," he said.

The families said they also wanted to place on record "a sense of appreciation for the mature attitude displayed by the PSNI and the NIO" during the legal process.

'Many hurdles along the way'

Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle on Friday, the families' solicitor Kevin Winters said for 50 years the family have "tried to get some form of closure".

"It was, and has been, a difficult journey for them, with many hurdles along the way," he said

Mr Winters said the sum of damages awarded relates to "the recognition on the part of the authorities that they failed to investigate the IRA bombs in Claudy".

He called it "unprecedented" and said he believed it was a first of its kind.

No one has ever been charged in connection with the Claudy bombing.