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BRITISH troops will not be investigated for their roles in slaughtering 24 rubber plantation workers in Malaya almost 70 years ago.
The Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday dismissed the challenge by the “massacred” victim’s families.
As a result an inquiry into the shootings at Batang Kali in 1948, which British troops at the time excused by labelling them insurgents, will not take place.
Lord Kerr, one of the five justices sitting in the Supreme Court, called the case “shocking” and said there was “overwhelming” evidence the “wholly innocent men were mercilessly murdered.”
However “with regret” he dismissed the appeal, saying the law “has proved itself unable to respond positively to the demand that there be redress for the historical wrong.”
He indicated that this “may reflect a deficiency in our system of law” but does not discredit “the honourable crusade” of the appellants.
The families were challenging the dismissal of their case by a Court of Appeal ruling last year.
