Michael Tighe: Police Ombudsman finds 'no credible evidence' teenager shot in Lurgan by RUC tried to surrender

Michael Tighe (17) was shot on November 24, 1982 during a covert RUC surveillance operation on a hayshed which security forces believed was being used by republican paramilitaries to store explosives.

The killing was previously examined in the Stalker / Sampson investigation into allegations of an RUC ‘shoot-to-kill’ policy.

No police officer has ever been prosecuted in relation to the killing.

In a statement, the Police Ombudsman described a claim Mr Tighe was trying to surrender as “previously unknown information”.

It said he and another man were in the hayshed when three members of the RUC Headquarters Mobile Support Unit, approached and opened fire, killing Mr Tighe and injuring the other man.

The statement said that at the time, the officers involved said they challenged the two men before shooting at them. When police later searched the hayshed they found three old, single shot rifles, corroded with rust. During this incident, no gunfire was directed from inside the hayshed towards police, and when it was later searched, no ammunition was found.

In 2021, the Police Ombudsman received a referral from the PSNI, in which a member of the public provided information he believed relevant. The information he gave police included a copy of a manuscript purportedly written by his ex-wife about her experiences as a military officer.

It included references to her alleged contact with an RUC officer responsible for the shooting of Mr Tighe and an admission by him that ‘even though Tighe put his arms up as a sign that he was surrendering he had shot him’.

Having assessed the new evidence, the Police Ombudsman commenced a formal investigation.

The ombudsman’s office said the woman alleged to have written the manuscript containing the admission spoke with their investigators and refuted the allegation the police officer had told her Mr Tighe had tried to surrender.

“These enquiries did not identify any other evidence which may have supported the version of events in the manuscript first provided to the PSNI,” the statement said.

Police Ombudsman, Mrs Marie Anderson added: “Where a police investigation has already taken place, I may only open a fresh investigation if there is new evidence which has come to light that was not reasonably available at the time the matter originally occurred. I am also prohibited from investigating matters that occurred outside the statutory time limit unless the matter is grave or exceptional.

"Given the matter was grave and there was new evidence I decided to commence an investigation into the matters referred by the Chief Constable.

"My investigation was hampered in a number of respects. Firstly, there was a reluctance by the woman who authored the manuscript, to constructively engage with my investigators.

"Secondly, the provenance of the documentation which was provided to PSNI could not be established. I was also concerned about the credibility and motivation of the man making the allegations.

"Nor is there is any credible evidence to establish the veracity of the comment in the manuscript that Michael Tighe was trying to surrender when fatally shot by police.

"Given these facts, there was no basis on which to pursue the investigation of this matter further".