The North's Police Ombudsman, Mrs Nuala O'Loan, has launched an investigation into claims that the British army could have prevented the murder of Lance Bombardier Stephen Restorick, who was shot dead by an IRA sniper in south Armagh in 1997.
Mrs O'Loan and her director of investigations, Mr Justin Felice, visited Lance Bombardier Restorick's parents in Nottingham on Friday and promised an investigation into the circumstances behind their son's death, a source at the Ombudsman's office has confirmed.
Their inquiry is focusing on a new claim that an intelligence error resulted in Lance Bombardier Restorick being shot dead while he manned a checkpoint in Bessbrook in south Armagh in February 1997.
The Ombudsman's officers also hope to question the former British undercover soldier who said that the IRA sniper team was under surveillance for 40 minutes before the soldier's death but that permission to intercept the gang was refused.
The former soldier, using the pseudonym Tony Buchanan, told the Sunday Times two weeks ago that colleagues in a specialist undercover surveillance unit informed him at the time that they had been following the movements of the IRA sniper gang.
Mr Buchanan said that the soldiers were in the 14th Intelligence Unit, now part of the SAS, and was then known as the "Det".
He was told that the Mazda car in which the IRA gang was travelling, and one of the rifles used by the IRA team, were fitted with movement-detecting "beacons".
Before the murder of the soldier, the "Det" reported that, from the "beacons", they were able to report that the gang was travelling towards Bessbrook. The soldiers also asked for permission to intercept the IRA members.
However, Mr Buchanan said that the Tactical and Co-Coordinating Group (TCG), which had command of the "Det" in the area, insisted no IRA attack was planned.
"The 'Det' wanted to deploy. There were six to 10 of them. The order was over the radio and they were saying the signal was getting stronger but the TCG refused to move. They said it was an administrative run by the IRA," he told the Sunday Times.
Lance Bombardier Restorick was killed by a single shot from a high-powered Barrett Light 50 sniping rifle. The IRA sniper gang, which was responsible for several similar-type killings in south Armagh, was eventually apprehended, but its members were released from prison early under the terms of the Belfast Agreement.
Lance Bombardier Restorick was the last soldier killed by the IRA in the Troubles. At the time, his mother Rita appealed for no retaliation. She has been a prominent peace campaigner since the killing.
The TCG, which also had MI5 members, was controlled by the RUC Special Branch. Because of this, Mrs O'Loan is able to investigate the Restorick murder.
