Minister sorry for Ulster loyalist's prison murder

The Government apologised today for failings in Northern Ireland's prison service that led to the 1997 murder of loyalist Billy Wright inside the Maze Prison.

Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson said a £30 million official inquiry had found there was no evidence of "state collusion" - but that the prison service was guilty of "serious and profound failures".

Mr Paterson told the Commons: "His murder in a high-security prison should never have happened. It was wrong and I'm sincerely sorry that failings in the system facilitated his murder."

He told MPs: "The panel's conclusions are clear and unequivocal on the central issue of collusion.

"There was no state collusion in the murder of Billy Wright. The panel finds: 'We were not persuaded that in any instance there was evidence of collusive acts or collusive conduct'.

"However, the panel concludes that: 'Some actions did in our opinion facilitate his death'. The report details a number of serious failings prior to Billy Wright's death.

"The panel is clear that where failings are identified, these were the result of negligence rather than intentional acts."