The family of a man shot dead while returning from a GAA match in 1975 have settled a civil action against the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Sean Farmer, 32, and his work colleague Colm McCartney, 22, were killed at what was described as a bogus army checkpoint near Newtownhamilton in County Armagh on August 24, 1975. They were travelling home from the All-Ireland semi-final between Dublin and Derry at Croke Park.

In Belfast High Court, it was announced that the action against the chief constable of the PSNI had been settled. Undisclosed damages are to be paid to the Farmer family, and an agreed form of words includes an apology.

The family had claimed that the then Royal Ulster Constabulary was guilty of malfeasance in public office and that the killers included serving soldiers of the Ulster Defence Regiment.

An investigation by the Historical Enquiries Team found that a mobile police patrol had encountered the bogus checkpoint around 45 minutes before the shooting. The patrol drove through it and reported the matter, but no action was taken due to a lack of military support in the area at that time.

The investigation also established that guns used in the killings were later used to murder the Reavey brothers in nearby Whitecross five months later. The Reavey family received damages and an apology earlier this year after a similar case against the military and police.

The Farmer family's civil action against the Ministry of Defence remains live and is due to proceed.