'No state collusion'in murderof Loyalist
The leader of the paramilitary Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) was gunned down inside the walls of the top-security Maze prison in December 1997 by republican inmates.
Lord Ranald Maclean unveiled the findings of his five year-long public inquiry in Belfast and found no evidence of collusion in the killing, although he ruled that a string of failings by the prison service and police “facilitated” the murder.
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Hide AdThe report’s key recommendation is that the prison regime, which bore the brunt of the criticisms, should undergo the kind of overhaul that saw the Patten Commission transform the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) into the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
But the report concluded: “We have been critical of certain individuals and institutions or state agencies, some of whose actions did, in our opinion, facilitate his death.
“We were not, however, persuaded that in any instance there was evidence of collusive acts or collusive conduct.”
The conclusion of the 30m probe closes the file on one of the most notorious sectarian killers of the Troubles, although Wright’s father David said his son deserved to be protected while in custody. Mr Wright said of the findings: “It looks like collusion, it sounds like collusion and in my mind amounts to firm and final proof of collusion by state agencies.”
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Hide AdThe authorities at the Maze were said to have failed to carry out risk assessments despite having rival paramilitaries housed in close proximity.
Wright, who was allegedly linked to up to 20 murders, was sitting in the back of a prison van waiting to be taken to meet his visiting girlfriend when he was shot seven times.
Prison Service director Robin Masefield said his organisation had already apologised and argued lessons had been learned.