THE police officer who opened fire in Ballynahinch nearly four years ago, killing the driver of a stolen car, will not be prosecuted.
Steven Colwell was shot at a checkpoint just outside the town’s police station at Church Street at 11.30am on Easter Sunday (16 April) 2006.
At the time of his death the father-of-one had an address in Cullybackey, Co Antrim, but was originally from the Shankill area of Belfast.
Late last month the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) revealed there was “insufficient evidence” to pursue the case against the police officer who fired the fatal shot.
A spokesman for the PPS confirmed that following what he described as “a thorough investigation by the Police Ombudsman,” the PPS concluded there was “insufficient evidence to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction.”
A spokesman from the Police Ombudsman’s Office has also confirmed that now the PPS has given its direction on the case, “the Police Ombudsman’s Office will move to issue the findings of its investigation” into circumstances surrounding the death of Mr Colwell.
This investigation, which was independent of the PSNI, examined in detail the shooting and the events that led up to it.
Investigators from the Ombudsman’s Office interviewed members of the public and police officers and, according to the Ombudsman’s spokesman, had “an extensive forensic analysis and reconstruction undertaken.”
The representative also confirmed that the Police Ombudsman’s findings into the Easter Sunday shooting would be released this year.
Members of the Colwell family have reacted furiously to the news, with the dead man’s eldest brother, Mr Gary Colwell, saying they are “very, very angry” at the outcome.
Mr Colwell said his parents and sister had died before Steven was killed and that he was “now glad they have been spared this heartache.”
“We are not prepared to leave this and will be seeking for the decision to be overturned. We are going to take legal action as we still want answers,” he said.
Mr Colwell said while he did not condone his brother stealing a car, he believed the police officer in question used “excessive force.”
“We want our human rights to be respected and we will leave no stone unturned for Steven,” he added.
PUP representative, and friend of the Colwell family, Ken Wilkinson, has queried whether or not the policeman remains a serving officer.
“This is a family who waited for four years on this result, and then they hear this,” he said.
‘NO THREAT’
“What we had here was a young unarmed man who was no threat, yet he was not shot once, but twice. I would like to know if the police officer who did this is still on duty.”
Weeks after the shooting the BBC reported that the policeman who shot Mr Colwell believed he was deliberately trying to run him over, and that his life was in imminent danger.
At the time the Police Federation said the detail in the report should not have gone beyond the Ombudsman’s Office or the PSNI.
It was also reported that the other passengers in the car Mr Colwell was driving – reported as being two women and three men – narrowly escaped being shot as well.
Within moments of the shots being fired at the stolen BMW car, worshippers rushed out of Easter services in the quiet town and a local priest, Canon Gerard McCrory, performed the last rites.
At the time of Mr Colwell’s death it was rumoured the vehicle he had been driving had been stolen from a house between Ballykinlar and Tyrella.
It is believed the road block was set up outside the police station in Ballynahinch after the car was reported stolen.
Within an hour of the death, representatives of the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman were at the scene to begin their inquiry, with the main Belfast to Newcastle road, which runs through the town, remaining closed for some hours.
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