Wilson supports action on killing

Former Tanaiste Mr John Wilson has said he would support the extradition of men allegedly involved in the murder of Dundalk man…

Former Tanaiste Mr John Wilson has said he would support the extradition of men allegedly involved in the murder of Dundalk man Mr Seamus Ludlow in May 1976.

Last month the DPP in Northern Ireland decided not to press charges against the men who live in Northern Ireland and England, despite one of them stating he witnessed Mr Ludlow being shot by a man that the Ludlow family believe worked for British military intelligence.

In his role as chairman of the Victims' Commission, Mr Wilson has recommended an inquiry into the murder and said he was deeply disturbed and disappointed by the decision of the Northern Ireland DPP.

The Gardai told the Ludlow family that the IRA murdered Mr Ludlow (47); this was strongly denied by senior republicans.

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Mr Ludlow was shot dead after accepting a lift in a car allegedly driven by four loyalists including a captain and a soldier in the UDR, and a man who joined their company for the day and ended up witnessing the murder. A man known as "Mambo" allegedly shot him three times and his body was thrown on to a ditch just hundreds of yards from his home. The family believe the case was never pursued because it would have exposed "Mambo" and the fact that two of the other men in the car were UDR soldiers and members of the Red Hand Commando.

The fourth man, who was not a member of the Red Hand Commando and who had joined the men for the day, made a detailed statement to RUC detectives in 1987 but it was not acted on.

Three years ago the family obtained a list of names of loyalists who were suspects for the murder. Then the Garda Commissioner, Mr Patrick Culligan, ordered a reinvestigation and arrests were made in the North and in England.