The family of an IRA man killed by the British army almost 50 years ago have lost a High Court battle over the inquest into his death.
Patrick Duffy (50) was shot by an undercover Army unit in the Brandywell area of Derry in 1978.
His relatives alleged the Ministry of Defence (MoD) had failed to complete a disclosure process before a cut-off imposed by the UK government’s legacy law.
But a judge dismissed the challenge.
Mr Justice Humphreys ruled: “The next of kin has every right to feel aggrieved at being denied the completion of the inquest into the death of Mr Duffy.
“However, this has come about as a result of an Act of Parliament.”
The MoD could have engaged greater resources at a much earlier stage to meet disclosure requirements across the range of legacy cases, the judge said.
But he held: “Decisions made in the context of the original five-year-plan have to be seen in the changed landscape of the 2023 Act which has created a race to the finish line of 1 May 2024″.
Identifying no evidence of bad faith or irrationality, he dismissed the application for judicial review.