McGrillen's (Nicole) Application
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | McCloskey J |
| Judgment Date | 11 January 2019 |
| Neutral Citation | [2019] NIQB 14 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Northern Ireland) |
| Docket Number | McC10868 |
| Date | 11 January 2019 |
1
Neutral Citation No: [2019] NIQB 14
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down
(subject to editorial corrections)*
Ref: McC10868
Delivered ex tempore
11/01/2019
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
________
QUEEN’S BENCH DIVISION (JUDICIAL REVIEW)
________
IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION BY NICOLE McGRILLEN FOR
JUDICIAL REVIEW
v
ONE OF THE CORONERS FOR NORTHERN IRELAND
________
McCLOSKEY J
[1] The applicant in this case is Nicole McGrillen. She is the daughter of
Finbarr McGrillen (“the deceased”). The Coroner has ruled that there will be no
inquest into the death of the deceased. The applicant challenges this invoking the
procedural obligation of Article 2 ECHR via Section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998.
[2] I elaborate briefly on the death as follows. Two persons have been convicted
of the murder of the deceased. This occurred in a context where there had been
separate investigations in the wake of the fatality. The Police Service conducted a
conventional investigation into the conduct of the suspected murderers. By statute
the Police Service was obliged to make a reference to the Office of the Police
Ombudsman of Northern Ireland and did so. That stimulated a separate
Ombudsman’s investigation which self-evidently focussed on the acts and omissions
of serving police officers. In the Ombudsman’s ensuing report there are
unambiguous criticisms of the conduct of certain officers who are identified by
cyphers and certain officers who are not identified directly or indirectly.
[3] In the Coroner’s ruling, there is reference to the report of the Police
Ombudsman, the Coroner noting that the Ombudsman’s focus was on the acts of the
PSNI. The Ombudsman’s report identified a series of failures and concerns
culminating in the release of SH, that is one of the murderers, on bail. The
Ombudsman found, in brief, that the police had failed to adequately protect the
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