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| No prosecution in Martin O'Hagan murder case | No prosecution in Martin O'Hagan murder case |
| (4 months later) | |
| Prosecutors in Northern Ireland have dropped plans to use a loyalist supergrass for a case against the suspected killers of the only journalist murdered by paramilitaries during the Troubles. | Prosecutors in Northern Ireland have dropped plans to use a loyalist supergrass for a case against the suspected killers of the only journalist murdered by paramilitaries during the Troubles. |
| The Public Prosecutions Service in Belfast declined to allow testimony from Neil Hyde against a number of men from the Mid Ulster area alleged to be members of the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), the terror group that claimed responsibility for the murder of the Sunday World reporter Martin O'Hagan in 2001. | The Public Prosecutions Service in Belfast declined to allow testimony from Neil Hyde against a number of men from the Mid Ulster area alleged to be members of the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), the terror group that claimed responsibility for the murder of the Sunday World reporter Martin O'Hagan in 2001. |
| The director of public prosecutions, Barra McGrory QC, said that "after very careful consideration of all the available evidence, including that of an assisting offender, Neil Hyde", a decision had been taken not to prosecute. | The director of public prosecutions, Barra McGrory QC, said that "after very careful consideration of all the available evidence, including that of an assisting offender, Neil Hyde", a decision had been taken not to prosecute. |
| "I know this decision will be disappointing to Mr O'Hagan's widow, family, friends and colleagues but the evidence that can be given by an assisting offender must be carefully evaluated and the test for prosecution applied on a case-by-case basis," McGrory said. | "I know this decision will be disappointing to Mr O'Hagan's widow, family, friends and colleagues but the evidence that can be given by an assisting offender must be carefully evaluated and the test for prosecution applied on a case-by-case basis," McGrory said. |
| "The prosecution of any of the accused in this case would depend on the evidence of Neil Hyde. It has been concluded that in the absence of any corroboration, the available evidence is insufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of obtaining a conviction against any individual." | "The prosecution of any of the accused in this case would depend on the evidence of Neil Hyde. It has been concluded that in the absence of any corroboration, the available evidence is insufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of obtaining a conviction against any individual." |
| Hyde was jailed for three years last February for offences including conspiring to carry a firearm with intent to wound in connection with the murder. The judge told him that had he not agreed to identify O'Hagan's alleged killers and give evidence about the activities of the LVF, he would have been sentenced to 18 years. | Hyde was jailed for three years last February for offences including conspiring to carry a firearm with intent to wound in connection with the murder. The judge told him that had he not agreed to identify O'Hagan's alleged killers and give evidence about the activities of the LVF, he would have been sentenced to 18 years. |
| O'Hagan was shot dead in front of his wife, Marie, after an evening out at a pub in Lurgan, Co Armagh, on 28 September 2001. An LVF sympathiser had spotted O'Hagan at the bar and notified contacts in the terror group. The couple were ambushed as they walked home and O'Hagan was shot up to seven times while he tried to shield his wife from the bullets. | O'Hagan was shot dead in front of his wife, Marie, after an evening out at a pub in Lurgan, Co Armagh, on 28 September 2001. An LVF sympathiser had spotted O'Hagan at the bar and notified contacts in the terror group. The couple were ambushed as they walked home and O'Hagan was shot up to seven times while he tried to shield his wife from the bullets. |
| The National Union of Journalists has consistently criticised the failure to convict O'Hagan's killers, contrasting the case with the Irish state's action against Dublin gangsters who ordered and organised the 1996 murder of the Sunday Independent reporter Veronica Guerin. | The National Union of Journalists has consistently criticised the failure to convict O'Hagan's killers, contrasting the case with the Irish state's action against Dublin gangsters who ordered and organised the 1996 murder of the Sunday Independent reporter Veronica Guerin. |
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