Derry family demands answers 23 years after Creggan bomb killed three people

Today marks the 23rd anniversary of the deaths of three people in a booby-trap bomb in a flat in the Creggan Estate.
Sean Dalton,  Sheila Lewis and Gerard Curran lost their lives.
In 2005, Sean Dalton’s family asked the Ombudsman to investigate allegations that the RUC had known that the flat had been booby trapped, but stayed silent to protect an informer.
They say the IRA was responsible for planting the bomb, but the RUC was responsible for ensuring that civilian lives were not put at risk and they have been trying to get to the truth ever since.
In 2008, Sean Dalton’s family was advised that a draft report of the completed Ombudsman investigation was almost ready for publication, and that the substance of their complaint had been upheld.
However, last year at a meeting with the Ombudsman and senior staff from his office, they were given a  verbal account which totally contradicted the conclusions of investigators in 2008. The final report was still not forthcoming.
Recently, the family was assured they would receive the report to coincide with the 23rd anniversary today, however, they say the Ombudsman has reneged on that promise. Al Hutchinson says this latest delay is due to the imminent release of the Criminal Justice Inspectorate Report into his office.
Sean Dalton’s son Jim died earlier this year, with the family saying their brother was denied closure because of this litany of broken promises.
The family says today marks another year where justice delayed is justice denied, and again call for the report to be published immediately.