FORMER British soldier Alan Barry has continued to insist that human remains were at a site identified after he employed a “psychic medium” in an attempt to locate the body of British army Captain Robert Nairac.

He hit out at the commission responsible for locating those “disappeared” during the so-called Troubles period in the north of Ireland and said it was “not fit for purpose.”

The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR) concluded there were “strong indications” that the wooded area identified by Mr Barry, using the medium and a “specialist dog,” was not and never had been a grave.

Specialists conducted investigations in Ravensdale Forest, close to the British-imposed border, after the tip-off from Mr Barry.

ICLVR’s lead forensic scientist and investigator Geoff Knupfer said: “We were looking at quite a defined area at which the cadaver dogs had apparently given strong indications.

“We carried out a careful and painstaking archaeological examination … The subsurface was pristine. It was never a gravesite.” 

The Star contacted the ICLVR for comment as it insisted that it conducted its work based on “credible information.” It was unclear whether the organisation has relied on the work of psychic mediums previously.

Mr Barry — dismissed by some as a crank — continued to insist there was a body in the forest despite the ICLVR’s findings conducted with scientists and a forensic archaeologist.

He described the ICLVR press statement as “appalling” and said they had “failed Robert.”

He said: “At no point did they contact the cadaver dog handler. He should have been asked to go back with them. I maintain that human remains are at this location.”

Mr Nairac was shot and killed by Irish republicans in May 1977. A number of people including IRA member Liam Townson were charged and jailed for his killing.

The British army captain worked with British intelligence and was part of the notorious Glennane Gang — a secret informal alliance of loyalist paramilitaries, British soldiers and serving police officers.

They are believed to have carried out at least 120 murders of Irish nationalists and Catholics — predominately in the so-called murder triangle in counties Armagh and Tyrone.

Mr Nairac has been accused by some of organising the 1976 Miami Showband Massacre. He was named as a likely culprit by then MP Ken Livingstone in the British Parliament in 1987.