INVESTIGATIVE reviews of atrocities committed by a loyalist unit behind more than 100 murders yielded no new leads or evidence of state collusion, the High Court heard yesterday.
Counsel for the Chief Constable said the independent Historical Enquiries Team (HET) carried out an "exhaustive" examination of 26 cases without any fresh breakthroughs.
Relatives of those killed by the so-called Glenanne gang have taken legal action against the PSNI over an alleged failure to complete an overarching report on the sectarian campaign in Mid Ulster and border areas throughout the 1970s.
They are seeking a court order that police chiefs must ensure the inquiries are finished and make the findings public.
A draft report into alleged security force collaboration with the loyalist murderers was said to have been 80 per cent finalised before being shelved.
Judicial review proceedings have been brought in the name of a brother of one schoolboy victim.
Patrick Barnard (13) was one of four people who died in a bomb at the Hillcrest Bar in Dungannon, Co Tyrone on St Patrick's Day 1976.
The murder gang based at a farm in Glenanne, Armagh allegedly contained members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the
UDR.
Up to 120 murders in nearly 90 incidents are under scrutiny.
Bereaved relatives again packed into the High Court in Belfast for the second day of the case.
With the HET now effec
tively shut down, Patrick's brother, Edward Barnard, wants a judge to compel police to complete the full investigation and publish the findings.
But Tony McGleenan QC, for the Chief Constable, argued that "detailed and
searching" scrutiny of the Hillcrest Bar killings and other cases was carried out. He said there was no further evidential opportunities and no evidence of collusion.
Only one of them resulted in a referral being made
to the Police Ombudsman's Office, the court heard.
Mr Justice Treacy was told the draft overarching report refers to 26 different cases - none of which yielded new evidence.
The case continues.