UVF leaders sanctioned Moffett murder
The family of loyalist Bobby Moffett have hit out at the Independent Monitoring Commission whose latest report says the UVF-sanctioned murder didn’t break the terror group’s ceasefire.
Moffett, 43, was gunned down by two masked men in broad daylight on the Shankill Road on 28 May.
A special IMC report into the killing released on Wednesday says his murder was carried out by the UVF and sanctioned by the organisation’s central leadership.
It concludes senior UVF leadership could have prevented the murder had it determined to do so.
“No matter whether it is a kneecapping or a killing, when a gun is pulled out the ceasefire is broke in our eyes”, Mr Moffett’s sister, Irene, told UTV.
The IMC report says the killing was carried out for two main reasons – “to stop Mr Moffett’s perceived flouting of UVF authority,” and “to send a message to the organisation and the community that this authority was not to be challenged”.
On Wednesday, Secretary of State Owen Paterson described the murder as “brutal and shocking.”
“The conclusions of the IMC in respect of the behaviour of the UVF leadership are a challenge to the UVF leadership to renew their determination to deliver fully on their collective commitment to transform their organisation,” he said.
In May 2007 the UVF issued a statement renouncing violence and committing to a process of transformation from a military to a civilian organisation.
In 2009 the organisation also took the step of full decommissioning.
Ceasefire
The paramilitary watchdog says it is not recommending “at this stage” that the murder constitutes a breach of the UVF ceasefire.
“Our conclusion is that, extremely serious though this murder clearly is, we are not in a position to recommend at this stage that the Secretary of State reconsiders specification,” the IMC said.
Justice Minister David Ford said the findings were “extremely worrying”.
“It calls into question the behaviour of the organisation and I think that organisation needs to make clear that the statement they made three years ago is genuine and that there will be no further incidents such as the murder of Bobby Moffett”, Mr Ford told UTV.
“The issue of sanctions to be taken against the UVF are issues which lie solely with the British Government and not with the Department of Justice”, he explained.
SDLP leader Margaret Ritchie said the IMC decision not to recommend reclassification sends out a “worrying signal”.
“The fact that the IMC do not recommend to the Secretary of State that the UVF’s ceasefire should be re-categorised sends out very worrying signals,” she said.
“Does that mean that a planned killing is to be regarded as par for the course and acceptable? And of course it begs the question what actually does constitute a breach of ceasefire by the UVF?”
Ulster Unionist Party leader Sir Reg Empey said the IMC’s position carried “severe risks”.
“This is an extremely disturbing report, which confirms suspicions that circulated at the time and has the potential to undermine any belief that paramilitary ceasefires are genuine,” Mr Empey said.
“Giving a ‘bye-ball’ to an organisation that is supposed to be on ceasefire in hopes that it is a ‘one-off’ carries very severe risks, of which the IMC must be fully aware.”
Meanwhile Sinn Féin West Belfast MLA Paul Maskey criticised the report as a “waste of time”.
“While the murder of Bobby Moffett was clearly a tragedy for his family and friends, the IMC today after spending weeks inquiring into the murder told us what everyone already knows that Moffett was killed by the UVF.
“Given the recent resignation by Dawn Purvis from the PUP there will be no political consequence arising from this report. At a political level this report highlights the fact that the IMC as a body serves little purpose and is a waste of time, money and effort.”
The leader of the PUP, the political wing of the UVF, quit over her suspicions the UVF was responsible for the killing.
Mr Maskey said the IMC should be abolished “and expenses should be redirected into frontline services as part of the effort to minimise the effect of the Tory cuts.”
Mr Moffett, suspected to be linked to the UVF, was shot in the face and chest in front of shoppers and children outside the Northern Bank on the Shankill Road.
At the time, detectives branded the murder a “public execution” which they linked to the Shankill UVF.
No-one has been charged in relation to the murder.
Detective Chief Inspector John McVea said: “A team of detectives continues to work on this investigation. We are still actively pursuing our inquiries and we are as determined as ever to bring those responsible for this brutal murder before the courts.
“I am appealing again to the local community to tell us what they know, what they saw and what they have heard. If the community comes forward with tangible assistance, police will not be found wanting in pursuing those leads.”
More than 2,000 people attended Mr Moffett’s funeral on the Shankill Road, despite paramilitary threats to stay away.
The IMC report was handed over to the British and Irish governments last week.
The watchdog said it would keep the matter under close review.
