A report by the Police Ombudsman's Office in Northern Ireland has revealed that a car used in the IRA murder of British soldier Stephen Restorick in 1997 was under surveillance by the British security forces.
23-year-old Stephen Restorick was the last British soldier murdered in Northern Ireland prior to the second IRA ceasefire.
He was manning a checkpoint at Bessbrook in Co Armagh in 1997 when he was shot by an IRA sniper.
18 months ago a Sunday newspaper claimed that the attack could have been prevented and Lance Bombardier Restorick's parents sought an investigation into the claim.
In her report published today the Police Ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan, concluded that a car used in the murder was among a number of vehicles under military surveillance at the time but found no evidence that the murder could have been prevented.
The initial report argued that police were attempting to protect an informer.
The Ombudsman's investigation revealed that original documentation linked to the surveillance operation had been destroyed without explanation.
The investigation also examined the issue of whether the gun used in the attack had been fitted with a tracking device but found that this was not the case.
