The murders of eight men in South Armagh three decades ago have never been properly investigated.

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that alleged security force collusion in the loyalist murders in the 1970s was not looked into with enough attention.

The cases were taken to the Court after a claim was made by a former RUC officer, John Weir, during a TV programme.

He said a farmhouse owned by another officer was used as a base from which to carry out loyalist attacks.

The cases include the Reavey brothers' murder at Whitecross in January 1976.

The judgement also covered the murders of Joseph, Barry and Declan O'Dowd, who were killed on the same evening as the Reavey brothers (John, Brian and Anthony).

John Weir also alleged that a part-time member of the Ulster Defence Regiment was among those responsible for one of the attacks and that a getaway car was provided by another former reservist.

The European Court of Human Rights awarded all applicants €5,000 in respect of non-pecuniary damage and €5,000 in respect of costs and expenses - with the exception of the family of Trevor Brecknell where the award was €51,000.

Mr Brecknell was murdered at Donnelly's Bar in Silverbridge in December 1975.

Other cases covered by the ruling were the murder of Colm McCartney at Altnamackin in August 1975 and the wounding of Michael McGrath in a gun attack on the Rock Bar in Keady in June 1976.

Fearghal Shiels of Madden & Finucane solicitors said: "In 1999 the RUC purported to conduct a police investigation into John Weir's allegations.

"The RUC took no steps to interview John Weir and irrespective of the cogent and credible evidence of widespread collusion by members of the UDR and RUC with a loyalist murder gang based in Mid-Ulster, concluded that his allegations were false."

"The findings by the European Court of Human Rights that the families' human rights were breached by the UK Government vindicates the families' central contention that there was a total lack of independence, transparency and accountability on the part of the RUC, in investigating the activities of this murder gang," he said.

(BMcC)