Pressure grows for new probe on Claudy atrocity

In a letter dated October 25 the Prime Minister's Private Secretary wrote of Mr Cameron's sorrow at hearing of Mrs Hamilton's personal loss as a result of the bombing on July 31, 1972.

The letter reads: "The Government is profoundly sorry that Father Chesney was not properly investigated for his suspected involvement in this hideous crime, and that the victims and their families have been denied justice."

But Mrs Hamilton - who narrowly escaped death when three IRA bombs tore through the village killing nine and injuring many others - wants a broader investigation of the bombing and is also calling on the Police Ombudsman to publicly answer a series of questions about the atrocity.

The eight-year Police Ombudsman's investigation, which concluded this summer, had the principal objective of establishing whether there was any evidence of criminality or misconduct by RUC officers in their response, if any, to a Catholic priest Father Chesney's alleged involvement in the Claudy bombings.

But it was later extended to consider whether information was available to the RUC, which might have enabled them to prevent the atrocity.

This, said Mrs Hamilton, was where questions remained. She - and the Claudy victims - want answers.

"There are too many unanswered questions," she told the Sentinel. "We have found out that the police had a great deal of information and had identified a number of suspects.

"Based on the information, the families want a number of questions answered. The Ombudsman's investigation had a narrow focus and there needs to be a broader investigation. But it would also help if the Ombudsman would publicly answer the questions."

Mrs Hamilton said the victims are in receipt of information about an IRA bomb factory in south County Londonderry and on the theft of milk churns in the north County Londonderry villages of Claudy or Feeny for use in the bombings.

She asks: "Did police find a bomb factory in south Londonderry? Did people suspected of the bombing go on the run so the police could not arrest them?

"Were the bombs in milk churns and were those churns stolen in Claudy or Feeny? Did the Ombudsman know this and if so why did he not tell the victims?"

The Sentinel put these questions to the Ombudsman and also asked whether the Ombudsman looked at other files and evidence that did not involve Fr Chesney and if so, could he say one way or the other whether much more evidence of what happened in Claudy exists, but was not included in the report as it fell outside the scope of the terms of reference for the inquiry?

A spokesman for the Police Ombudsman's Office replied: "Our investigation considered two very specific issues - whether there was any criminality or misconduct in the way police dealt with allegations of Fr Chesney's involvement in the Claudy bombing, and whether information was available to the RUC which could have prevented the bombing. The evidence and findings in relation to these are detailed in our report. We are unable to comment on other aspects of the case."