Marian Beattie: Watchdog finds 'numerous failings' in murder investigation
Ms Beattie's family had referred the case to the Police Ombudsman's office after they had raised concerns about the police's investigation.The ombudsman's office has recommended an independent review should be carried out into the murder of Ms Beattie.In a report published on Thursday, it found that police had failed to ensure that all lines of enquiry were progressed; that all suspects were interviewed; that all alibis were checked; and that discrepancies between some suspects' accounts and other evidence were examined.
What happened to Marian Beattie?
In late March 1973, Marian Beattie went to a charity dance at Hadden's Garage on the outskirts of Aughnacloy with her best friend and brother.During the night she was seen dancing with a young man. She left with him after 01:00.Marian's body was found in the early hours of the following day at the bottom of the nearby quarry, and the police opened a murder investigation.Last month, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said it was reviewing the murder and appealed to anyone with fresh information to come forward.Ms Beattie's brother, Gerard Beattie, previously told BBC News NI that his family have never recovered from her murder.
Investigation 'undermined by systemic failings'
Police Ombudsman chief executive Hugh Hume said that in the 50-plus years since the murder, "there were only eight documented contacts between the police and the family"."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."
The ombudsman investigation found that Northern Ireland's police force at the time, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), reacted quickly following the discovery of Ms Beattie's body, dispatching Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers and a Scenes of Crime officer.Items were recovered, including articles of clothing and forensic samples. These were submitted for analysis to the forensic science laboratory and returned to the police on 18 January 1974.There is no record of what happened to them after their return to police and all are now missing, the ombudsman said. They include a palm print, formed in mud on the heel of Ms Beattie's right shoe, which became a significant focus for police. Although a photograph of the print does still exist, the shoe is missing.During the initial investigation a large number of palm prints were obtained to compare against the print on Ms Beattie's shoe. No match was found.However, Mr Hume said that although palm prints formed a central aspect of police enquiries, this was problematic for a number of reasons.These included the poor quality of the muddy print found on Ms Beattie's shoe. Mr Hume said it was clear from the evidence that enquiries relating to this print "would not be capable of providing a positive identification".He said ombudsman investigators had also found no evidence that police had:conducted any interviews with a number of suspectschecked a number of suspect alibismade enquiries about the whereabouts of some suspects on the night of the murderexamined discrepancies between the accounts of some suspects and other evidenceundertaken any intelligence work in relation to suspectsshown a photograph of Marian to witnesses during their initial enquiries, or asked whether they had seen her leaving the dance hallPolice were found to have made only limited use of identification procedures in a bid to establish the identity of the male seen leaving the dance with her.All physical exhibits recovered during the initial police investigation are also missing, and Mr Hume said this had had "a serious" impact on police investigations."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," he said.The Police Ombudsman's investigation acknowledged, however, that efforts were made by police in the mid-2000s to locate the missing exhibits, consisting of searches at Dungannon, Omagh and Aughnacloy police stations, which were ultimately unsuccessful.
Mr Hume added that although Marian was murdered in 1973, there were lessons to be learned from the case of relevance to current policing.BBC News NI has contacted the PSNI for comment.
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