AN ASSAULT rifle used in seven unsolved murders has been discovered on public display at the Imperial War Museum.
BBC Panorama has learned that investigators from Northern Ireland’s Police Ombudsman’s team traced the gun to the museum.
They recovered the weapon and sent it for tests.
The VZ58 Assault Rifle was found to have been used in the attack on the Sean Graham bookmaker’s on the Ormeau Road in Belfast in 1992.
Five Catholics were killed by Protestant paramilitaries in the attack. No one has ever been convicted for the murders.
The rifle has also been linked to two other un solved murders that occurred during the Troubles.
A spokesperson for the museum told The Irish Post: “The item was transferred to IWM in 1995. It was on display, with other objects, in an area that looks at the Troubles.”
The museum is now working alongside the police ombudsman team in an attempt to discover whether any other weapons from unsolved murders are in its collection.
Assistant Chief Constable Will Kerr said the Police Service of Northern Ireland would fully support the ombudsman investigation.
The VZ58 rifle was originally recovered by the RUC in 1992, but officers from the PSNI’s Historical Enquiries Team (HET) were subsequently unable to locate the gun when they reopened the unsolved murder cases.
Families of the victims were told by the police that the rifle had been officially “disposed of ”.
The families of the victims of the Ormeau Road murders have long believed that security forces colluded in the attack.
The second murder weapon used at the betting shop, a 9m handgun, was given to the paramilitary team by a British soldier.
Billy McManus, whose father Willie died in the betting shop murders, told the BBC of his upset that the weapon was on show at the museum.
“I am absolutely shocked that a gun connected with so many deaths was there on display for anyone to come and see at the Imperial War Museum. It should be here in a secure place so that it can be used for ballistics.”
A spokesperson for the Imperial War Museum said that the museum recorded conflict, and weapons were displayed in that context.
They also relayed his sympathy to the victims’ families. “We fully understand how upsetting this must be for the families involved.
"IWM would like to extend our sympathy to the families at this distressing time and will work to ensure that our response is attentive to their needs and wishes.”
See More: Irish, London, Troubles, VZ58 Assault Rifle
