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Policeman vows to catch Nelson killers
Rosemary Nelson was murdered by a loyalist car bomb
The British police officer in charge of the investigation into the murder of Northern Ireland human rights lawyer Rosemary Nelson has vowed to catch her killers.
Mrs Nelson, a leading civil rights advocate and mother-of-three, died in a car booby-trap bomb explosion near her home in Lurgan, Co Armagh on 15 March 1999.
A splinter loyalist group, the Red Hand Defenders, admitted responsibility for the murder.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that her legal office in Lurgan is to close. It had remained open since her murder last year.
With the first anniversary of her death next week, detectives have yet to make any arrests.
However, Deputy Chief Constable of Norfolk Colin Port, who is leading the investigation into her death said: "We will get them and when I say I'm confident, I mean it."
He is heading a team of 65 officers, 45 of them drawn from forces throughout the rest of the UK.
An estimated 5,000 people have been interviewed and around 1,500 statements taken.
On Wednesday, Mr Port said: "It's a very, very complex inquiry, because you have to cross-check and triple check everything, but we cannot afford to be found wanting.
"Not only do we want to find out who was responsible for the murder, but who planned it, who orchestrated it, even those who talked about it."
The Government has not ruled out the possibility of an independent inquiry at some future stage into allegations of security force collusion in the murder and police death threats against Mrs Nelson, a Catholic, before she died.
Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson met Mr Port in Lurgan on Tuesday.
'Comprehensive briefing'
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Mandelson said he had not ruled out such an inquiry, adding that he had received a "comprehensive briefing on the investigation".
Mr Port has rejected calls by some of Mrs Nelson's colleagues, friends and family for the 20 RUC officers involved in his inquiry to be withdrawn.
He said: "I would be opposed to that because they are essential to the investigation. If they were pulled off, it would slow the inquiry down considerably.
"I have found them nothing but of the highest integrity.
"They contribute an essential element in terms of their experience, knowledge and intelligence, and had it not been for those RUC officers this investigation would not be where it is today. We are moving ahead satisfactorily.
"Their professionalism is best exemplified by the fact that they are not privy to evidence and information which has been given to us in confidence and with a guarantee it would not be shared with the RUC.
"Everybody on the inquiry team wants to find the killers, not just for the family's sake, but for the rule of law.
"If these people can kill a solicitor who represented causes they did not believe in, then that indicates a complete breakdown to the rule of law and no right-minded person in Northern Ireland wants that.
"We have found no evidence yet of collusion. If there is collusion we will find it.
"I am not for one moment saying there is not a rogue element out there who helped these people carry out this callous murder, but at this stage I have found no evidence of it."
Mrs Nelson was involved in a number of high-profile cases. She represented the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition who have been involved in a dispute over an annual Orange Order march at Drumcree in nearby Portadown.
She claimed to have received threats from RUC officers via her clients. These were said to have been made during interviews with suspects in police custody.
Mrs Nelson had lodged formal complaints about the threats and it emerged after her murder that the allegations were being investigated within the force.
No-one charged
The Department of Public Prosecutions decided not to prosecute over the claims.
It is not yet known whether any RUC officers will face internal disciplinary action.
Meanwhile, Mrs Nelson's family have called for an independent inquiry into her murder.
They are being supported in their call by the human rights groups, Amnesty International, British Irish Rights Watch, the Centre for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers of the International Commission of Jurists, the Committee on the Administration of Justice, Human Rights Watch and the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights.
Mrs Nelson, a leading civil rights advocate and mother-of-three, died in a car booby-trap bomb explosion near her home in Lurgan, Co Armagh on 15 March 1999.
A splinter loyalist group, the Red Hand Defenders, admitted responsibility for the murder.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that her legal office in Lurgan is to close. It had remained open since her murder last year.
With the first anniversary of her death next week, detectives have yet to make any arrests.
 Colin Port: Vowed to catch killers of Rosemary Nelson |
He is heading a team of 65 officers, 45 of them drawn from forces throughout the rest of the UK.
An estimated 5,000 people have been interviewed and around 1,500 statements taken.
On Wednesday, Mr Port said: "It's a very, very complex inquiry, because you have to cross-check and triple check everything, but we cannot afford to be found wanting.
"Not only do we want to find out who was responsible for the murder, but who planned it, who orchestrated it, even those who talked about it."
The Government has not ruled out the possibility of an independent inquiry at some future stage into allegations of security force collusion in the murder and police death threats against Mrs Nelson, a Catholic, before she died.
Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson met Mr Port in Lurgan on Tuesday.
'Comprehensive briefing'
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Mandelson said he had not ruled out such an inquiry, adding that he had received a "comprehensive briefing on the investigation".
Mr Port has rejected calls by some of Mrs Nelson's colleagues, friends and family for the 20 RUC officers involved in his inquiry to be withdrawn.
He said: "I would be opposed to that because they are essential to the investigation. If they were pulled off, it would slow the inquiry down considerably.
"I have found them nothing but of the highest integrity.
"They contribute an essential element in terms of their experience, knowledge and intelligence, and had it not been for those RUC officers this investigation would not be where it is today. We are moving ahead satisfactorily.
"Their professionalism is best exemplified by the fact that they are not privy to evidence and information which has been given to us in confidence and with a guarantee it would not be shared with the RUC.
"Everybody on the inquiry team wants to find the killers, not just for the family's sake, but for the rule of law.
"If these people can kill a solicitor who represented causes they did not believe in, then that indicates a complete breakdown to the rule of law and no right-minded person in Northern Ireland wants that.
"We have found no evidence yet of collusion. If there is collusion we will find it.
"I am not for one moment saying there is not a rogue element out there who helped these people carry out this callous murder, but at this stage I have found no evidence of it."
Mrs Nelson was involved in a number of high-profile cases. She represented the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition who have been involved in a dispute over an annual Orange Order march at Drumcree in nearby Portadown.
She claimed to have received threats from RUC officers via her clients. These were said to have been made during interviews with suspects in police custody.
Mrs Nelson had lodged formal complaints about the threats and it emerged after her murder that the allegations were being investigated within the force.
No-one charged
The Department of Public Prosecutions decided not to prosecute over the claims.
It is not yet known whether any RUC officers will face internal disciplinary action.
Meanwhile, Mrs Nelson's family have called for an independent inquiry into her murder.
They are being supported in their call by the human rights groups, Amnesty International, British Irish Rights Watch, the Centre for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers of the International Commission of Jurists, the Committee on the Administration of Justice, Human Rights Watch and the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights.
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