Garda to investigate why trial over police officer murder collapsed

A senior Garda’s been tasked with looking into why a trial relating to the murder of a prison officer in the North collapsed.
Damien McLaughlin from Dungannon walked free from court yesterday, after being acquitted of aiding and abetting the murder of David Black six years ago.
52-year-old David Black was driving to work on the M1 in Armagh in November 2012 when he was shot dead.
A dissident republican group calling itself the IRA said it carried out the murder.
41 year old Damien McLaughlin from Dungannon in Tyrone appeared before Belfast Crown Court yesterday, where he was acquitted of charges including aiding and abetting murder.
Prosecutors decided not to appeal against a judge’s ruling that key video interviews conducted by Gardai were unsafe for use as evidence in the trial.
The Assistant Commissioner for Special Crime Operations will now conduct a fact-finding exercise into the circumstances of the dismissal from a Garda perspective.