Sean Farmer: Family of murdered GAA fan who claimed security force collusion to receive damages from PSNI

An apology will also be issued to relatives of Sean Farmer as part of a settlement reached in their action against the Chief Constable.

A separate claim against the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is expected to go to trial next week.

Mr Farmer, 32, was shot dead along with his friend Colm McCartney, 22, at a dummy roadblock in Altnamackin, Co Armagh in August 1975.

The two Catholic victims had been returning home from an All-Ireland football semi-final between Derry and Dublin at Croke Park.

They were targeted by the so-called Glenanne Gang, a notorious UVF faction linked to 120 deaths during a sustained killing spree at the height of the Troubles.

The unit also allegedly contained members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the Ulster Defence Regiment.

One of Mr Farmer’s sons sued both the PSNI and MoD in a case involving claims of malfeasance in public office.

Rogue soldiers and police officers were either involved in the sectarian murder plot or failed to carry out a proper hunt for the gunmen, it was alleged.

Legal action was pursued after a Historical Enquiries Team (HET) report into the shootings identified “disturbing omissions and the lack of any structured investigative strategy”.

In court on Friday, counsel for the Farmer family, Des Fahy KC, announced a resolution has been reached in one of the two lawsuits.

“The plaintiff’s action against the first defendant, the Chief Constable, is now settled,” he confirmed.

“That settlement includes the payment of damages, and a form of words to include an apology to the plaintiff.”

No further details of the agreed terms were disclosed at this stage in the ongoing litigation.

The now defunct HET - a specialised police unit set up to examine unresolved Troubles-era murders - found nothing to suggest either victim had any paramilitary or political connections.

Mr Farmer, a mechanical digger driver, lived with his wife and four sons at Moy in Co Tyrone, while Mr McCartney was a single man from Castledawson, Co Derry who worked as a fitter.

“The checkpoint on the night of August 24, 1975 must have been initiated to target Catholics returning from the Gaelic football semi-final,” the HET report concluded.

“It is likely that Colm and Sean were the first two unfortunate victims to encounter the gang.”

Despite intelligence pointing to the Mid Ulster UVF as the paramilitary group behind the murders, and naming two individuals as allegedly involved, no action was said to have been taken at the time.

HET detectives were unable to find any explanation for the lack of response.

“It is difficult to ascertain that any investigation took place at all, after the initial scene examination,” the report said.

It also highlighted how the terror gang used a similar ploy to carry out the Miami Showband massacre just three weeks earlier.

A fake army patrol made up of UDR soldiers and UVF members stopped the popular cabaret act at the bogus checkpoint outside Newry, Co Down.

Band members were made to line up at the side of the road while attempts were made to hide a bomb on the tour bus.

The device exploded prematurely, killing some of the would-be bombers.

Their accomplices then opened fire on the band, murdering lead singer Fran O'Toole, guitarist Tony Geraghty and trumpeter Brian McCoy.

Two other members of the Miami Showband, Des McAlea and Stephen Travers, were also injured but survived the attack.

The report into the murders of Mr Farmer and Mr McCartney acknowledged how the victims’ families and members of the nationalist community are convinced investigations were not rigorously conducted in a deliberate effort to conceal security force involvement and to “perpetrate a campaign of terror by loyalist paramilitaries against Catholic citizens”.

It stated: “The HET is unable to rebut or allay these suspicions.”

Based on the investigative failings highlighted, the review body said it had uncovered evidence of security force co-operation with the terrorist killers.

The report added: “(This) should have rung alarm bells all the way to the top of Government.

“Nothing was done; the murderous cycle continued.”