Barrister strike adding to trauma, say Ballymena family

The family of Chloe Mitchell, who was killed in Ballymena in 2023, have said they would “go down on their hands and knees to beg” for the barristers’ strike to be resolved.

Chloe’s remains were found nearly a week after she went missing in June 2023. She was 21 years old.

The man accused of her murder is due to go on trial in February, but the strike, means no Crown Court cases involving people who require legal aid can proceed in Northern Ireland while the dispute over fees continues.

George Mitchell, Chloe’s father, said any delay to a trial would bring “more trauma and heartache”.

He told The Nolan Show that he has invited the justice minister to meet him and his wife, Georgina, at their home.

“We would say to her these cases, like Chloe’s and the McNally’s and the other murder cases, there has to be some agreement to get them moving,” George told The Nolan Show.

“I think we’ve had enough trauma without there being a hold put on it. It’s just a kick in the teeth.”

The BBC understands there are five murder trials that may be affected by the strike which began on 5 January.

Natalie McNally was 15 weeks pregnant when she was killed in her Lurgan home in December 2022. The man accused of her murder was due to go on trial this month.

Justice Minister Naomi Long said she hoped to meet the Mitchell family soon and that “intensive efforts” were continuing to resolve the strike.

She said the damage caused by the strike could not be “overstated”.

“It is upsetting and frustrating for me as justice minister that the unimaginable trauma they have already endured is being compounded,” she added.

Long said further engagement with the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) was taking place this week and she had ” proposed a way forward that would both allow the concerns of the CBA to be addressed at pace and fulfil the department’s requirements in terms of appropriately managing public money”.

The CBA said it is “not impervious” to the impact of withdrawal of services and has described the action as a “last resort” which is “not being taken lightly”.

“The Department of Justice must fulfil its obligations to victims of crime by engaging with the CBA in good faith and with pace and purpose, so that this action can come to an end,” a spokesperson said, adding they “remain committed to engagement” in order to find a “sustainable way forward”.

Linda McDowell, one of Chloe’s aunts, said: “I would go down on my hands and knees to beg for some kind of compromise to this.

“This is really devastating. We’re already destroyed, but this is destroying us more.”

George said the family could not get any kind of closure and that his wife Georgina had barely left their home since they were informed of Chloe’s death, and had been unable to attend any court dates.

“She hasn’t been out on the streets of Ballymena apart from when her mother was on her deathbed,” he explained.

“This has just destroyed her.”

Philip Mitchell, Chloe’s brother, said he a has been numb ever since receiving the news of his sister’s death and would give anything to hear her laugh again.

“Her laugh made you laugh,” he said.

“Chloe was the most loving, caring and most respectable wee woman you could ever have met. She was there for everybody.

“We’re still living that nightmare, the day we were told that horrible news about my sister and we have never been able to move on from that.”

Chloe’s dad said they were waiting to hear what would happen with the trial date, but had already faced other delays.

“Your heart is set on a date. Then we have to go back and tell my wife that it’s all set back again and it’s more trauma and heartache.

“It just drops her, she just falls to her knees and I have to walk away. I can’t cope with seeing my wife the way she is,” he said.

“We don’t know how long this strike will go on for but, in my eyes, it has to come to some compromise.”

He said he lays the blame for this and all previous delays on the criminal justice system and would like to see changes to it to stop families like his facing years of delay.

“We’re in limbo. We’ll be running into three years soon,” George stated.

“We’re trying to see if we can get some kind of justice, a bit of closure.”

George said he wouldn’t like “another family to have to live in our shoes”.

“It’s just disgusting,” he said.

“But life will never be the same.

“At the end of the day, my wee one has been took. It’s not going to bring her back.”

He appealed to both Long and the CBA to resolve the industrial action.

“Think of the families. Sort something out and get back to work.”

The full interview is now available on BBC Sounds.