LEADING barrister Michael Mansfield QC is set to represent relatives of some of those killed the 1971 McGurk’s Bar bombing.
Loved ones of two men killed in the no-warning bombing,Thomas McLuaghlin and Philip Garry, recently launched legal action against the chief constable, the Ministry of Defence and Secretary of State.
Fifteen innocent people were killed when the UVF detonated a bomb in the North Queen Street bar in north Belfast in December 1971.
At the time security forces blamed the IRA but this was later shown not to be true.
Michael Mansfield has worked on several high profile cases in recent times including the Hillsborough inquests and recent Grenfell Tower inquiry.
In the past he represented those wrongly accused of the Guildford and Birmingham pub bombings in the 1970s.
In the north he has worked on the Bloody Sunday inquiry and represents the families of those killed during the 1971 Ballymurphy Massacre.
Thomas McLaughlin's son Francis last night said the “civil case allows our legal team to produce the evidence that proves our loved ones innocence”.
“Collusion can take many forms. Covering up the murders of fifteen innocent Catholics must rank as one of the most obscene.
“All we want is our day in court. Hopefully this civil case will grant us that opportunity.”
His solicitor Eoin Murphy of Ó Muirigh Solicitors said: “The family believe that only through these civil proceedings, can answers be retrieved and culpable and discreditable conduct by the security forces and police be exposed.”
