A major trial into claims that security forces allowed loyalist paramilitary killers to smuggle a shipment of weapons into Northern Ireland will be heard later this year, a High Court judge has confirmed.
Proceedings brought by relatives of two murder victims over alleged collusion in the importation of the deadly consignment in the late 1980s were listed for a five-day hearing in November.
Their legal representatives predicted that the outcome of the actions could have wider implications for other cases about scores of killings linked to the same batch of guns from Beirut.
Patrick Frizzell and Margaret Lundy are both suing the PSNI and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) amid allegations the arsenal of weapons was permitted to be brought into Northern Ireland and distributed among loyalist terror groups for use in a series of attacks.
In March 1991 Mr Frizzell’s brother, Brian Frizzell, was shot dead along with Eileen Duffy (19) and 16-year-old Katrina Rennie by the UVF in Craigavon, Co Armagh.
Mrs Lundy’s husband, Alan Lundy, was gunned down by a UDA unit at the west Belfast home of Sinn Féin representative Alex Maskey in May 1993.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs claim police and MI5 knew about loyalist plans to import hundreds of rifles, pistols and grenades via South Africa but did nothing to intercept the shipment.
The UDA, UVF and Ulster Clubs - a network of organisations which operated at the time - were said to have been making efforts to source weapons across Europe, the Middle East and North America.
In early 1988 police seized some of the Czech VZ58-type rifles, Browning 9mm pistols, Soviet anti-personnel grenades, a rocket-propelled launcher, ammunition, magazines, and pouches at locations in Belfast and Portadown.
But it is alleged that other imported weapons were stored by Co Armagh farmer James Mitchell and moved to safety after an RUC officer warned him about an imminent raid.
Mitchell, a former police reservist who died in 2008, had a conviction for a previous arms dump discovered on his premises near Glenanne during the 1970s.
Mr Frizzell and Mrs Lundy are suing the police and MoD, claiming misfeasance in public office and negligence in allowing the weapons sourced from Beirut into Northern Ireland.
With writs lodged in connection with a number of other Troubles killings connected to the same imported guns, their actions have been identified as lead cases.
The hearing in November will be focused on establishing whether the state authorities are liable for allegedly assisting and facilitating loyalist terrorists in procuring and importing that shipment.
Part of the hearing will be in private due to issues of national security.
Solicitor Setanta Marley of KRW Law, who represents both plaintiffs, described the listing of the trial as an important milestone in Northern Ireland’s legacy litigation
“However, the issue of state liability has never been determined by a court, and we relish the opportunity to argue (our case).”
Mr Marley also pointed out that a Police Ombudsman investigation into the 1994 Loughinisland massacre found that the smuggled VZ58 rifles featured in at least 70 other murders and numerous attempted murders after Loughinisland.
“This listing and subsequent judgment will therefore impact on scores, if not hundreds, of cases spanning the late 1980s, 1990s and 2000s where the weapons from this shipment were used,” he added.
“The approach taken by the court sets down a marker for a similar engagement in many other conflict-related cases, this is particularly important given the almost complete absence of any criminal prosecutions against the main suspects implicated in dozens of killings right across the jurisdiction.”