Two ex-police officers among suspects in NI teen's unsolved murder as report finds ‘systematic failings' in probe

Belfast Telegraph

7 hours ago

It comes after a new report found a series of blunders in the original investigation into Marian Beattie's death.
The 18-year-old's partially-clothed body was found at the bottom of a quarry near Aughnacloy after she had left a dance with an unidentified male in the early hours of March 31, 1973.
No one has ever been charged with or convicted of her murder.
A Police Ombudsman report said there had been 'systemic failings' in the investigation.
Three suspects had paramilitary links and two were former police officers.
The report found police had failed to ensure all lines of enquiry were progressed, that all suspects were interviewed and that all alibis were checked.
Officers also did not ensure discrepancies between some suspects' accounts and other evidence were examined.
Police Ombudsman chief executive Hugh Hume said Marian's family had not received the service that they deserved from the police.
'In 50-plus years after her murder, up until earlier this year, there were only eight documented contacts between the police and the family,' he said.
"It is understandable that they have lost confidence and trust in the police.
'Although our enquiries found no evidence of individual police criminality, nor misconduct by any serving officer, the police investigation of Marian's murder has been undermined by organisational and systemic failings.'
Mr Hume added that although Marian was murdered in 1973, there were lessons to be learned from the case of relevance to current policing.
'At the time of Marian's murder the police faced significant policing challenges, with hundreds of murders each year being attributed to the Troubles, and that context was taken into account during our enquiries,' he added.
'Nevertheless, we must learn from past errors and omissions, particularly if we are to properly address the problem of violence against women and girls in local society. Northern Ireland has the second-highest levels of femicide in western Europe,' he said.
'Unfortunately, the Police Ombudsman has found a similar lack of investigative rigour and pre-emptive conclusions in some recent PSNI femicide investigations.'
He added: 'It is my hope that our recommendation for an independent review will help to ensure that future police enquiries into Marian's murder are comprehensive and focused.'
The Police Ombudsman's investigation was initiated by a referral received from the then Chief Constable in 2017.
Marian went missing after attending a dance at Hadden's Garage near Aughnacloy, attended by 400-500 people, on the evening of March 30/31 1973.
She had gone there with a friend and her older brother, and was last seen walking in the direction of Hadden's Quarry with an unidentified male.
After being reported missing, her body was found at the bottom of the quarry, beneath a 90 foot drop, the next morning.
A post mortem examination concluded Marian had died from multiple injuries - some consistent with a fall, but others deemed to have been sustained separately.
Items from the scene, including clothing and forensic samples, were sent for forensic testing, but all are now missing.
These include a shoe which had a palm print, formed in mud, which became a significant focus for police.
Mr Hume said there had been an over-reliance on the palm print.
'More weight was placed on the value of the palm print to the investigation than it could bear," he added, saying it was also based on the assumption that the print had been left by her killer.
Investigators found the examination of palm prints were the only enquiries conducted in relation to three suspects, resulting in their exclusion from the investigation prematurely.
Mr Hume said significant outstanding lines of enquiry in relation to suspects that had not been pursued.
In particular, Ombudsman investigators found no evidence that police conducted any interviews with a number of suspects; checked a number of suspect alibis; or made enquiries about the whereabouts of some suspects on the night.
Discrepancies between the accounts of some suspects and other evidence were not properly examined, investigators found.
The Ombudsman probe was also hampered by the loss of police exhibits and documentation.
This includes documentary evidence, statements, records of interviews with witness and suspects, and officers' journals, and completed questionnaires from 419 people at the dance are also missing.
All physical exhibits recovered during the initial police investigation are also missing.
Mr Hume said: 'If these exhibits had been available, it may have been possible to have conducted further forensic testing using current forensic capabilities, and it is possible that this may have resulted in the identification of the person responsible for Marian's murder."
The investigation found that up until earlier this year, there are only eight documented contacts between police and Marian's family in the five decades since her murder - although investigators noted that records of the actions taken by police were incomplete.
'Marian's family have lost confidence in the police. There should have been greater levels of communication and transparency," Mr Hume said.
Family members told Ombudsman investigators that police had made comments on four separate occasions that led them to believe there were potential links between suspects and either police, military/security services or paramilitaries.
Although there were no police records of this being discussed, available information suggests it is more likely than not that such comments had been made.
The Police Ombudsman investigation found that three suspects had paramilitary links and two were former police officers.
'Although our investigation has found significant errors and omissions during the police enquiries into Marian's murder, it is my hope that the independent review we have recommended will ensure that every effort is made to uncover the truth about her murder, and to finally bring her killer, if still alive, to justice,' Mr Hume said.