Cold case unit to re-examine 1,800 ‘unsolved murders’

The Government has announced it is to make £32 million available to a team of 100 'cold case' investigators that will look into some of the 1,800 unsolved murders that resulted from Northern Ireland’s ‘Troubles’.

The NI Secretary of State Paul Murphy confirmed today that the funding will help finance the review which is to be conducted over the next six years and will cover the period 1969 to 1998.

Mr Murphy said that the creation of the new unit within the PSNI, which is to be headed by retired Metropolitan Police Commander David Cox, ”could provide bereaved families with answers to questions they have about the loss of their loved ones”.

“The Government is committed to doing all that it can to help Northern Ireland deal with its troubled past and our pledge to provide the resources to look at unresolved deaths underpins that commitment,” he said.

“Today’s announcement will allow the Chief Constable [Hugh Orde] to establish a new unit and expand this work to cover all unresolved deaths in a way that will command the confidence of the wider community.”

Welcoming the news, the Chief Constable said today’s announcement would provide “a massive challenge” that was unique in policing.

"In recent months both I and senior colleagues have worked closely with the Northern Ireland Office to seek to formalise and fund a unit to review unsolved cases,” Mr Orde said. “No one has ever tried to work through such a complex group of unsolved crimes spanning over 30 years. However I believe that with this commitment of funding and support from the Government we can meet that challenge.”

The PSNI is expected to call on outside police help, which could include former colleagues of Mr Orde from the Metropolitan Police as well as members of An Garda Síochána, as part of their investigating team.

The new unit will include skilled support teams, fingerprint experts, analysts and investigators.

(MB)