Legacy body ‘lacks powers of a public inquiry to examine Sean Brown murder'
Earlier this month, the Court of Appeal in Belfast affirmed a previous court ruling, compelling the UK government to hold a public inquiry into his killing.
However, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn has applied for a Supreme Court appeal on the judicial rulings.
Bridie Brown, the widow of murdered GAA official Sean Brown, holds a picture of him, outside the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast (PA)
Mr Brown, 61, the then chairman of Wolfe Tones GAA Club in the Co Londonderry town of Bellaghy, was ambushed, kidnapped and murdered by loyalist paramilitaries as he locked the gates of the club in May 1997.
No-one has ever been convicted of his killing.
Preliminary inquest proceedings last year heard that in excess of 25 people had been linked by intelligence to the murder, including several state agents.
It was also alleged in court that surveillance of a suspect in the murder was temporarily stopped on the evening of the killing, only to resume again the following morning.
In an interview earlier, Mr Brown's elderly widow Bridie, 87, said she does not know why her husband was killed, and reiterated her call for a public inquiry into his death to answer the questions her family has.
'I don't know why they chose Sean, I just do not know because he was the same with everybody,' she said during an interview on BBC's The GAA Social podcast.
'He treated everybody alike, he walked with both sides of the community.'
She also paid tribute to the turnout of thousands in Bellaghy last Friday evening to support her family's campaign for a public inquiry.
People in the town of Bellaghy, Co Londonderry, which came to a standstill on Friday night as they took part in a march in support of the family of Sean Brown (PA)
'It was emotional,' she said.
'Never in my wildest dreams had I thought about so big a turnout.'
Last month, Mr Benn said he is taking steps to ensure that the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) is capable of carrying out an independent and rigorous investigation into Mr Brown's murder.
During an appearance at the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, ICRIR chief commissioner Sir Declan Morgan was pressed by SDLP leader Claire Hanna on the Brown case.
Sir Declan said if the case came to the ICRIR, his investigators would carry out a cold case review, a scoping exercise and would treat the case as a criminal investigation and gather all the evidence.
'But I agree that we could not do the next step which is subsequent to that, once the terms of reference have been set, and up to that point, we're definitely Article 2 compliant,' he told MPs at the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee.
'But the next bit is having identified what the issues are to then organise a hearing with proper representation by lawyers in relation to that, and also understanding that the sensitive information arrangements, in my view, need to be reviewed and the commission needs to be able to exercise proper challenge in relation to those.'
Claire Hanna has supported the Brown family (MP)
Speaking outside the meeting, Ms Hanna said the ICRIR in its current form 'cannot fully meet the needs of the family of Sean Brown'.
'Today's comments from Sir Declan Morgan are welcome and shine a light on where the ICRIR falls short,' she said.
'Any further delay to the resuming and restarting of inquests alongside the continued denial of a public inquiry to the Brown family is the British Government delaying truth and justice.
'The SDLP is committed to the delivery of legacy structures that families can buy into. Sir Declan's comments underline our key concerns about deficiencies relating to participation by families in proceedings and the continued existence of a veto on information by the Secretary of State.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
a day ago
- Times
Why you should never rely on the state to fund your retirement
The past week brought another brutal reminder that we cannot rely on the state to look after us in retirement. The government is pressing ahead with plans to charge inheritance tax on pension savings and has opened the door to increasing the state pension age even sooner. In Britain there is a widespread, if not strange, belief that the state has a duty to provide and care for us in old age. Our free national health service and benefits system have lulled us into a false sense of security that there is some sort of Big Brother out there to help us in our hour of need. The problem is that while we are expected to plan for the long term, the rules continue to change with every prime minister, chancellor and pension/homes/health (delete as appropriate) minister at the helm. A cut here; a new tax there; even more policy reviews. Rule changes made by politicians today can in one fell swoop destroy long-term financial plans that have been carefully put in place. Take what's happened to those who piled their money into the property market as part of their retirement strategy. For years this was a smart move: landlords could deduct mortgage interest in full from rental income, there was little red tape and capital gains tax (CGT), which applies on additional homes, was not paid on inflationary gains. But that inflationary CGT relief was made less generous by Gordon Brown in 1998 and then scrapped completely in 2008 by Alistair Darling. Having to pay CGT on a property that has been owned for many years and risen considerably in value seriously reduces the amount you have left for your retirement. It also hasn't helped that the annual CGT allowance, the profit you can make without being taxed, has been reduced considerably — from £12,300 to £6,000 in April 2023 and again to £3,000 in April 2024. Figures crunched for The Sunday Times by the estate agency Hamptons showed that the typical landlord is making a loss for the first time since the financial crisis, thanks to higher interest rates and the government's tax crackdown. Owning a second property is no longer a sound retirement strategy. • Why the golden age of property investing is over And then we have the changes to the state pension. The likelihood is that pensioners in the future will get less in real terms than they do today. The pension triple lock is unsustainable and it will have to become less generous — it is a matter of when, not if. The other lever that the government is likely to pull is changing the state pension age sooner, bringing forward the increase to age 68 from the mid 2040s to the mid 2030s — the earliest it could happen because of the requirement to give ten years' notice. If you are forced to wait a few years extra before you can claim the state pension, you will either need to work longer or find tens of thousands of pounds more savings to plug the gap — the full new state pension is worth £11,973 this year. It's a lot to find and those more than a decade away from retirement may have to rethink their plans. Finally, making inheritance tax payable on pensions will also derail many families' plans. From April 2027 pensions will be added to the value of your estate for inheritance tax purposes, although they will remain exempt if left to a spouse or civil partner. • The inheritance tax raid on pensions will pile misery on grieving families But many people rely on an inheritance to fund a decent retirement. Having to potentially hand over 40 per cent of that to the taxman could result in some being unable to retire or finding it difficult to make ends meet. Changes made by short-term governments are wrecking families' long-term financial plans. It's impossible to have a savings strategy if politicians keep moving the goalposts. Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves may be long gone by the time you retire, but their actions could shape your future. It's a reminder to take your own pension savings seriously — and, above all, never trust the state with your retirement. How are you changing your pension plans to ensure you have enough for retirement? Tell us in the comments below
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Daily Mail
Woman who claimed to be Princess Diana's secret daughter who was sent to rid the world of evil killed her friend and his cat, court hears
A woman who claimed to be Princess Diana 's secret daughter killed her friend and his cat, a court heard. Habiba Naveed, 35, also said she was 'Jesus' and had been 'sent to eliminate evil from the world' after battering her 72-year-old landlord to death and stabbing his pet cat in the neck. Naveed previously denied the murder of solicitor Christopher Brown, but pleaded guilty to his manslaughter. She also admitted causing unnecessary suffering to his cat Snow by stabbing him in the neck on or before August 15 last year. At a hearing at the Old Bailey on Thursday, Judge Sarah Munro KC imposed a hospital order under Section 37 of the Mental Health Act and a restriction order under Section 41 - meaning Naveed can be detained indefinitely. At the time of the offence, Naveed, who has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, was 'psychotic' - while her mental health had 'deteriorated' in the days preceding the attack, the court heard. Prosecutor Kerry Broome told the court Naveed believed she had connections to the royal family and was Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed's daughter. After the attack, Naveed told her brother 'she was Jesus and had been sent to eliminate evil from the world', and later said to police 'the devil attacked me last night and I won,' Ms Broome said. The Metropolitan Police launched an investigation after Mr Brown's body was discovered under a dressing gown in the living room of the home he shared with Naveed in Polsted Road, Lewisham, south-east London. The house cat, Snow, was also found dead having been stabbed in the neck. Ms Broome said of a previous account of the attack given by the defendant: 'She believed she had seen the deceased kill his mother and that the deceased was evil.' 'She heard a voice telling her to kill him three times,' she said, adding that Naveed hit Mr Brown with a pan and then strangled him. 'She believed the evil spirit had jumped out of the deceased and into the cat.' 'She got a knife and she cut the cat's neck,' Mr Broome added. A post-mortem examination found that Mr Brown, who was a lawyer, died from blunt force trauma. In a tearful statement, a colleague from Mr Brown's law firm told the hearing that the victim would have helped anyone if he could, adding that Naveed had taken away any 'future memories'. She said: 'He wasn't just a 72-year-old-man tragically killed by his housemate, he was a solicitor, a boss, a partner, a kind man.' In a statement read out by Ms Broome, Mr Brown's cousin described him as a 'kind and caring person' who would go out of his way to help his family and his clients. Naveed attended the hearing via video-link and only spoke to confirm her identity.
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- The Herald Scotland
Antonio Brown: an examination of a troubling post-NFL life
"I can't let them take me out," Brown said with a laugh. "... Nah. AB snuck out the back door." The context was unspoken but clear. A little less than three weeks earlier, Brown had flown to the Middle East after authorities in Miami-Dade County charged him with attempted second-degree murder. According to a copy of the arrest warrant obtained by USA TODAY Sports, he allegedly grabbed a security guard's gun and fired two shots at an acquaintance outside an amateur boxing event May 16. Brown, 37, described the charge as "fake" in a post on social media but has a warrant out for his arrest - the latest twist in what has been a tumultuous three-year stretch since he last played professional football. After removing his jersey and walking off the field midway through a game in January 2022, Brown has attempted to reinvent himself as a musician, entrepreneur and crude-humored influencer on social media. He has recorded songs with well-known rappers, and briefly owned an arena football team. But he has also faced a consistent string of legal issues, including criminal charges, lawsuits alleging unpaid bills and, most recently, Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings. According to court records, the former wideout could soon be forced to sell two of his Florida homes to repay more than $3.5 million in debt. He has publicly estimated that he made more than $100 million during his NFL career. "Yeah, I'm (expletive) up," he said with a smile, when asked about the bankruptcy proceedings on "The Pivot" podcast last summer. "I just can't comply with debts. ... I'm not broke, but I'm fractured." Brown did not reply to interview requests sent via e-mail and social media. USA TODAY Sports also contacted 15 people who were or are in the former NFL star's orbit, including family members, current and former attorneys, business associates and former teammates. All of them either did not respond to messages or declined to comment on Brown. One associate requested compensation in exchange for an interview, which violates USA TODAY's code of ethics. In social media posts, livestreams and podcast interviews, however, the man commonly known as "AB" has offered frequent, if incomplete, glimpses into his life and mindset after football. "The first rule of life is self-preservation," Brown said on the "Assets Over Liabilities" podcast less than a year after his retirement from the NFL. "You've got to take care of yourself first. If you ain't self-sufficient, you can't really take care of no one else." A once great NFL career sputters In many ways, Brown's first three years outside of professional football have been a continuation of his last three years within it. After making seven Pro Bowls in nine seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Miami native was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders in 2019 and his career began to sputter. He bounced between three teams in three years, while also facing multiple league suspensions and lawsuits -- including separate claims that he sexually assaulted a former trainer and assaulted a moving truck driver. (Brown settled the lawsuit filed by the trainer, which included an allegation of rape that he denied, and lost a $1.2 million judgment to the truck driver.) The Tampa Bay Buccaneers released Brown after he left the field midway through the penultimate game of the 2021 season. And although he didn't immediately announce his retirement, his focus began to shift. Brown was announced as the president of Donda Sports, the sports arm of a company founded by controversial musician Ye. He released rap songs under the name "AB," including one track featuring prominent rapper Young Thug. And he traveled to Dubai and hung out with Floyd Mayweather ahead of one of the boxer's fights. Later that summer, Brown signed a record deal with Secure The Bag (STB) Entertainment, which gave him a $150,000 advance and arranged for him to perform at a hip-hop music festival called Rolling Loud. But the relationship quickly soured when he sent the company an invoice for $178,000 after returning from the festival, which STB Entertainment refused to pay, according to a lawsuit later filed by the company. Brown stopped returning messages from STB Entertainment's owner, Ryan Kane, and began publicly distancing himself from the company with which he had signed a distribution contract, according to court records. "I don't got a deal with nobody, man," Brown said on "Assets Over Liabilities" that fall, when asked about rumors he had secured a different record deal. "I own myself." It wasn't just the lawsuit, however, that defined Brown's first fall since leaving the NFL. In October, the New York Post published video of Brown exposing himself to a woman at a hotel pool in Dubai. (He dismissed the footage in a social-media post as "disinformation.") He also faced a misdemeanor battery charge for allegedly throwing a shoe at a woman while attempting to evict her from a house in Tampa. She later declined to press charges. USA TODAY Sports does not identify the victims of alleged domestic violence without their permission. After football, Brown faces numerous lawsuits Brown has been party to at least 10 lawsuits since retiring from the NFL, according to USA TODAY Sports research. Some alleged that he broke contracts, did not repay bills and did not return lucrative pieces of jewelry. One civil case claims Brown sold the plaintiff -- Kane, the STB Entertainment head -- a fake Richard Mille watch for $160,000. Kane's attorney did not provide answers to written questions about his interactions with Brown. Brown has also filed several legal complaints himself -- some of which cited esoteric legal statutes and appear to have been drafted without the help of a lawyer. After Tampa police responded to the domestic incident in Tampa in late 2022, for example, Brown filed a document accusing officers of trespassing and seeking $68 million in damages from Hillsborough County. One year later, he filed a 65-page complaint in federal court against 11 different entities, including lawyers and a state judge, after he was arrested for failing to pay child support. Brown - who, according to the 2018 Steelers' media guide, was born in Miami - identified himself in the document as "a foreign national by birth but not a citizen of the United States. He alleged, among other things, violations of the 1886 Civil Rights Act. The case was swiftly dismissed by a judge, who called it "a quintessential shotgun pleading." While juggling various legal claims, Brown has also remained in the public eye. In March 2023, he was introduced as a new co-owner of the Albany Empire, a National Arena League football team for which his father, Eddie "Touchdown" Brown, had previously been a star player. Within three months, the Empire was booted from the league because it said Brown failed to pay league membership fees and fines. Game checks for players also went unpaid, according to The Albany Times-Union. "I feel like this was his plan all along," Empire wide receiver Fabian Guerra told the newspaper. "I feel like he does stuff for social media and to sell his songs. I think it's just what he does. That's the type of guy he is. No one trusts him anymore." 'People don't understand' Since retiring, Brown has been a frequent guest on podcasts and TV shows, sitting for lengthy interviews in which he's discussed his music career, his stance on social media and his hopes of being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2027. During an appearance on "The Pivot" podcast last summer, Brown said he meets with a therapist to talk about trauma from his football career. When co-host Fred Taylor said there are people who are concerned about him, Brown interjected. "I just feel like people don't understand," he said. "It's always when people don't understand, you're crazy. Or you're not from where I'm from, so you don't get to understand it." Brown has talked openly and repeatedly about chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the neurodegenerative brain disease more commonly known as CTE. He has also posted videos and conducted interviews for a self-described sports outlet that he's dubbed "CTESPN" -- a crude combination of the popular sports network and the disease that has been found in the brains of deceased NFL players. It was on CTESPN's social media accounts that he announced in May 2024 he had filed for bankruptcy - alongside a video clip featuring a comedic moment from "The Office." In initial court filings, Brown claimed to have less than $50,000 in assets. But that figure has changed drastically in subsequent filings, as he included or revealed additional assets technically owned by trusts or corporate entities he controls. Creditors and the trustee assigned to the case have criticized Brown for the financial mixups and his conduct in court - including a March hearing that he asked to postpone because he said he was dealing with an unspecified medical issue. "The Debtor, however, was not in poor health," the U.S. trustee later wrote in a court filing. "In fact, the Debtor participated as an invited guest on The Joe Rogan Experience (a podcast) for 98 minutes the very next day." Brown's first bankruptcy attorney has since resigned and his case has been converted to Chapter 7 - a form of bankruptcy in which the court can seize assets and garnish wages to repay creditors. (His current bankruptcy attorney, Chad Van Horn, declined comment.) According to court records obtained by USA TODAY Sports, the trustee in Brown's case is in the process of selling two of his homes, and also asking a judge to force him to provide accurate financial data to the court. The next hearing in the case is July 24. Andrew Dawson, a professor of bankruptcy law at the University of Miami, said the bankruptcy proceedings are actually protecting Brown by pausing any lawsuits filed against him and preventing new suits from being filed. But disobeying court orders could, in theory, prompt a judge to throw out the case. "If he loses the protection, in some ways, he might be worse off," Dawson said. "Now, creditors are actually aware that, wow, he owes a lot of money to a lot of people, and there may be some property we didn't know. It leads to what we sort of call the proverbial race to the courthouse. Everyone wants to go and file their claim." Brown apparently in United Arab Emirates One will find little evidence of Brown's financial issues on his social media feeds, where he portrays himself as living the same luxurious lifestyle he led when he was in the NFL. Since arriving in the Middle East nearly six weeks ago, he has posted images of sprawling marble floors and flashy sports cars. He celebrated his 37th birthday on a yacht with several of his children. On June 26, he posted a screenshot on X of an account balance exceeding $24 million. "Bankrupt over," he wrote in part of the caption. Tamara Lave, a former public defender and law professor at the University of Miami, said the frequent social media posts could complicate Brown's bankruptcy claims because they could be later used against him in court. "I think silence would be a virtue for him, right now," she said. Brown also is still wanted by the state of Florida after he allegedly fired two gunshots at Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, 41, during the May 16 incident in Miami. According to the arrest warrant, the shots came after a physical altercation between Brown and Nantambu, who previously sued the former NFL wide receiver, won a judgment of nearly $1 million from a jury and is now among the creditors named in Brown's bankruptcy case. Miami police have repeatedly declined to answer questions about the warrant or Brown's case, citing "an open active investigation." And it is unclear whether they, or the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office, are aware of Brown's whereabouts or have been in contact with him or his attorney. At least as of July 23, Brown appeared to be living in the United Arab Emirates, according to social media posts. Lave said that would mean he could only be taken into custody in one of two ways: If he returned to the United States, where he would likely be detained by Customs and Border Protection, or if the U.S. asked the UAE to extradite him. "I think it's more a geopolitical question - what the UAE would want to do in terms of the relationship with our president," Lave said. Brown campaigned for President Donald Trump and spoke at one of his rallies last fall. Online, at least, Brown remains relatively easy to find. He has 2.5 million followers on X, where many of his posts include racist, homophobic or otherwise vulgar language. He has also hosted multiple livestreams in what appears to be an attempt to drum up interest for a Belize-based gambling company, During one such stream, which is no longer archived online, Brown balked at the suggestion from a commenter that he was "hiding out" in the Middle East. "I'm here full-time," he said. "We're not hiding." Contact Tom Schad at tschad@ or on social media @
