A High Court judge has dismissed a legal claim brought by the families of those killed in the 1994 RAF Chinook helicopter crash, ruling that the bid for a fresh investigation into the disaster was made too late.

Ann Magee, from Donaghadee in County Down, whose husband Kevin Magee of the RUC Special Branch was among the 29 victims, has expressed disappointment at the decision but said the campaign will continue.

The Chinook Justice Campaign, which represents more than 55 relatives of 25 of the deceased, had sought to compel the Ministry of Defence to establish an independent and effective investigation into the crash on the Mull of Kintyre.

The group argued through its legal representatives that serious concerns existed at the time regarding the airworthiness of the helicopter. The court heard that the aircraft involved had required one engine to be replaced three times in the months preceding the crash and that issues had also been reported with the second engine.

The Ministry of Defence opposed the claim, maintaining that the incident had already been the subject of extensive investigations and that a new inquiry would serve no practical purpose. Mr Justice Butcher ruled that while the campaigners might have demonstrated a breach of the department’s duty to investigate adequately after the Mull of Kintyre review concluded, no cogent grounds had been shown to allow the claim to proceed more than 14 years after that review.

Mrs Magee, who watched proceedings via video link, said she had sensed from the judge’s questions that the outcome was unlikely to be favourable. She acknowledged that human rights law normally imposes a one-year limit on bringing such claims following a review but noted that the families did not unite as a large organised group until 2024.

The widow said the campaign’s focus in earlier years had been on clearing the names of the pilots, adding that the question of who permitted the aircraft to fly despite evidence it was unsafe remains unanswered.

The Chinook Justice Campaign has indicated it intends to seek either an appeal of the ruling or to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.