Ramsbottom's Application
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judgment Date | 26 May 2009 |
| Date | 26 May 2009 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Northern Ireland) |
[2009] NIQB 55
High Court, Northern Ireland WEA7520
Weatherup J
Mr McDonald QC and Ms Doherty for the applicant; Ms Anyadike-Danes QC and Ms Elliott for the respondent; Mr McMillen for the Police Service; Mr Kitson for the Police Ombudsman.
Whether there were reasonable grounds to suspect that certain evidence related to the death such that investigation of that evidence was required at the inquest; whether the coroner should recuse himself because of an appearance of bias.
The deceased was murdered in one of a number of possibly sectarian attacks carried out on a single evening in July 2002. A witness, X, telephoned the police confidential line and later made a statement to solicitors claiming that two men whom she named had confessed to her that they had committed the murder but no charges were brought. The applicant requested that the coroner call X and the two men named by her to give evidence at the inquest. The coroner refused, stating that he had been advised by the senior investigating officer of the police that the contents of X's witness statement did not relate to the murder of the deceased but to another incident earlier in the day. The full reasons for that conclusion were not apparent. The coroner proposed to call the officer to give evidence about the results of the investigation into witness X and to prove her statement but ruled that there did not need to be any advance notice of what he would say.
The applicant applied for judicial review of the coroner's decisions not to call the witness X or the two men named by her to give evidence, or to provide for disclosure of documents relating to the investigation concerning witness X. The applicant also sought the coroner's recusal on the ground of apparent bias, on the bases that he had predetermined a relevant issue in the inquest, namely the relevance of witness X, and had relied upon the police conclusion as to the irrelevance of witness X.
1. This is an application for judicial review of decisions of the coroner made on 14 November 2007 concerning the inquest into the death of Gerald Lawlor. The applicant was the partner of the deceased who was murdered on 22 July 2002. Mr MacDonald QC and Ms Doherty appeared for the applicant, Ms Anyadike-Danes QC and Ms Elliott appeared for the coroner, Mr McMillen for the Police Service and Mr Kitson for the Police Ombudsman.
2. The applicant made a statement setting out her information as to the events of the evening in question. The deceased was in the Bellevue Arms public house on the Antrim Road, Belfast, where he arrived about 8.30pm and left about 11.45pm. He walked to a Chinese takeaway and left those premises at about 11.55pm walking back past the Bellevue Arms towards his home on the Whitewell Road. Shortly after midnight residents in Flora Road nearby heard gunshots and two witnesses saw two men on a moped that drove off towards Glengormley. The two witnesses then found the deceased lying on the pavement.
3. The applicant recounts that police stated that the motive for the murder was sectarian and in revenge of the shooting earlier of a young Protestant man in Ardoyne. The result was that loyalist gangs carried out a number of attacks in an attempt to murder members of the Catholic community. The applicant gives further particulars of the events of that evening
involving loyalist gunmen firing shots in North Belfast and gunmen on a motorbike firing shots in the Oldpark area. Fortunately in neither event was anyone injured. At 11.20pm a man was seriously injured in Rosapenna Street and then at around midnight the deceased was killed. A claim of responsibility was received by the BBC from the Red Hand Defenders and a further claim of responsibility was received from the UVF on behalf of the Ulster Freedom Fighters. Two men were arrested for the murder of the deceased on 7 August 2003 but they were subsequently released without charge.
4. The applicant was not satisfied with the police investigation into the death of the deceased and complained to the Police Ombudsman. The Police Ombudsman carried out an investigation. The...
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