The decision by the Metropolitan Police not to release files on the death of Sammy Devenny, the Derry man who died three months after being viciously beaten by the now disbanded RUC almost 45 years, has been described as “unacceptable” by Sinn Féin MLA Raymond McCartney.
The late Sammy Devenny.
Mr Devenny (42), a father of nine, died on 16 July, 1969 from injuries sustained in the 19 attack in his William Street home in which a number of his children, eight of whom were at home at the time, were also injured.
Mr Devenny’s family applied for files related to the inquiry carried out in 1970 into the killing by the Metropolitan Police with a “freedom of information” request through the Pat Finucane Centre only to be told the files were “reclassified” in 2012.
It means details of “The Met’s” investigation will stay secret until 2022, a decision described by Mr McCartney as “unacceptable.”
He said: “The family of Sammy Devenny has been searching for the truth about the death of their father for nearly 45 years.
“This decision by the Metropolitan Police to refuse to release documentation of Sammy Devenny for another eight years due to public interest is unacceptable.
“The family deserve access to the truth and the files and the as was recently stated in the Haass proposals families should not be forced into searching for the truth.”
Mr McCartney concluded: “The British Government must stop withholding information concerning the deaths of Irish citizens by British state forces and allow families to find closure.”
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