THE family of a Gaelic football club official murdered by loyalist paramilitaries slammed the Westminster government today for taking legal action over an inquest into his death.

Sean Brown was abducted and killed by loyalist paramilitaries as he locked the gates at Bellaghy Wolfe Tones Club in County Derry in May 1997.

No-one has ever been convicted of his murder.

An inquest was under way into his death until last month when a coroner said it could not proceed due to the withholding of sensitive files.

Mr Justice Kinney said his ability to examine Mr Brown’s death had been “compromised” by the extent of confidential state material being excluded from the proceedings on national security grounds.

He said he would write to Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris to call on the government to establish a public inquiry into the loyalist murder.

On Thursday, the British government said it was making a legal challenge.

A spokesperson said: “We can confirm that an application for leave to apply for judicial review has been made relating to the inquest into the death of Sean Brown.

“It would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage given the matter is now the subject of judicial consideration.”

In a statement issued by their solicitor, the Brown family said they felt the legal action was “an attack on the truth” and accused the government of attempting to deny victims access to justice.

The family statement said: “The Brown family are gravely concerned that this is a concerted attempt to tie them up in legal processes that could take years, and that they are being used as pawns in a wider attempt by the British government to defend its indefensible approach to legacy.”

The family said they are taking out their own legal proceedings against the British secretary of state “to convene a public inquiry.”