NI police probe not seen independent

STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - Britain failed to conduct independent investigations into accusations of collusion between the Northern Ireland police and loyalist Protestant forces, the European Court of Human Rights said on Friday.

Relatives of victims of assassinations or assassination attempts in Northern Ireland in the 1970s had appealed to the court after an officer from the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) spoke of collusion in 1999.

The RUC, now called the Police Service of Northern Ireland, started an investigation after these comments but the plaintiffs said it had been neither effective nor properly executed.

"The Court found that the investigation was not sufficiently independent in its early stages," the Strasbourg-based court said. There had been a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights' article on the right to life, it said.

The court awarded the five plaintiffs 5,000 euros (3,588 pounds) each in damages. Four of them are to receive 5,000 euros for expenses and one of them was granted 51,000 euros for costs.

(Reporting by Gilbert Reilhac; Editing by Robert Woodward)