Disclosure work under way for fresh inquest into man abducted from south Belfast
Disclosure work is under way in an inquest into the death of a Belfast man whose badly beaten body was discovered in the Republic of Ireland.
The body of Thomas Lockard, 34, was found by the side of a road at Raskeagh in Co Louth two days after he disappeared from his home on the Malone Road in south Belfast on April 25th 1998.
Advertisement
Nobody has been convicted over the death.
Alice Lockard, the sister of Thomas Lockard, with solicitor Owen Winters, outside Laganside Courts, after the preliminary hearing of the Belfast Coroner's Court. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA.
A fresh inquest was ordered into his death last year by the Northern Ireland Attorney General, Dame Brenda King.
Mr Lockard's sister Alice was at Belfast Coroner's Court for the first preliminary hearing in the case on Monday morning.
It heard that a deadline of October 2nd has been set for the disclosure of non-sensitive information from police as well as the Ministry of Defence, Police Ombudsman, Forensic Science Northern Ireland and the Public Prosecution Service.
Advertisement
Footage from news reports is also being sought from RTÉ.
Counsel for the coroner Philip Henry said there are 34 folders of PSNI non-sensitive material which are currently being prepared, and searches within the MoD remain ongoing.
Leona Gillen, acting for the Crown Solicitor's Office, said both the PSNI and the MoD do not foresee any problems with meeting the deadline.
In terms of PSNI sensitive material, the inquest will be impacted by a six-month pause to September 6th on work on any case other than the Omagh Bombing Inquiry.
Advertisement
Ms Gillen said she will seek instruction on timescales around that work.
The hearing was also told that a letter had been found dated November 2019, which had been sent by coroner Anne-Louise Toal to the next of kin's solicitor in her previous role working as a solicitor in the Attorney General's Office.
Ireland
Preparatory work begins ahead of mass grave excava...
Read More
Mr Henry said: 'Having spoken with you this morning and after we identified the letter, it was clear to us that you didn't have any significant involvement in processing the section 14 application, and it appears that your only involvement was in relation to the letter itself and issues in and around it.
'But we thought at the outset better that everyone know that. It's quite apparent from the fact that whenever you were assigned the case it didn't trigger any memories of previous involvement which rather demonstrates the limited nature of your involvement with it while in the Attorney General's Office but we put it on everyone's radar so that they can consider their position.'
Advertisement
The next preliminary hearing is set to take place on October 6th.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BreakingNews.ie
41 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Teen (19) was driving with eight people on car during Donegal rally weekend, court hears
A young man who had eight people on the roof and bonnet of his car while he was driving in Co Donegal has been ordered to make a €750 donation to charity. Brian Mordaunt appeared at Letterkenny District Court charged with dangerous driving during the weekend of the Donegal International Rally on June 21st, 2024. Advertisement Garda Sergeant Jim Collins told the court that a number of videos emerged on Snapchat of the bizarre incident. Gardaí became aware of the incident and stopped Mordaunt in his car at a later stage. The 19-year-old, who has no previous convictions, made full admissions and was apologetic to gardaí, the court was told. Pictures of the car with the eight people hanging out of it were handed into court. Advertisement Solicitor for the accused, Mr Patsy Gallagher, said his client's family are 'distraught' after the incident. Mordaunt, who is from Clerihan, Clonmel in Co Tipperary, is an apprentice electrician. He was in Co Donegal for the Donegal International Rally when the incident occurred at Pearse Road on June 21st last year. Mr Gallagher said he had viewed the videos and said it was difficult to know if Mordaunt's car was actually moving or not and it certainly was not driving at any speed. Advertisement He suggested the case was at the lower end of the dangerous driving levels and that his client does realise that what he did was stupid and that he had had full and frank conversations with his family about the matter. The solicitor added that the accused man's family are distraught at what has happened and said it was inexcusable. Ireland New legislation means all adults in Ireland will b... Read More "It is certainly not a situation where the family are taking this lightly," added Mr Gallagher. Replying, Sergeant Collins said the evidence was that the car was certainly moving but not at any great speed. Judge Ciaran Liddy said he would adjourn the case until September 15th to allow Mordaunt to make a donation of €750 to Cara House and pay a fine of €250. If that is done, he said he will consider reducing the charge to one of careless driving and will also consider not disqualifying the accused.
BBC News
6 hours ago
- BBC News
'Loyalist paramilitary transitioning has failed' ex-watchdog says
The process aimed at disbanding loyalist paramilitary groups has failed, a former security watchdog has told BBC Northern Ireland's Spotlight Alderdice, the former Alliance Party leader who was a member of the Independent Monitoring Commission, said talks about loyalist transition should was responding to the arrest and conviction on firearms charges of Winston Irvine, who worked as an interlocutor with the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC), which represents mainstream loyalist groups.A senior LCC source told Spotlight that loyalist transition is on course to be concluded this autumn, with an announcement of the complete dismantling of all paramilitary structures. Irvine, of Ballysillan Road in north Belfast, was a well-known community worker before being given a two and a half year sentence over guns and ammunition found in the boot of his car in Public Prosecution Service (PPS) is appealing the sentence for being "unduly lenient".Irvine's conviction has returned attention to loyalist funding and paramilitary up in 2015, the LCC says it represents a loyalist leadership committed to transition, the scaling back of criminality and ultimately disbandment.A source in the organisation told Spotlight that Winston Irvine has been instrumental in moving the mainstream Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) away from criminality, and that a final push for loyalist transition is imminent. Lord Alderdice spent seven years on the Independent Monitoring Commission, which was given access to secret intelligence to report on paramilitary activities, before it was wound up in said the transition process is "not working". "A halt should be called, and you can't call a halt now sooner than today."There comes a point when you have to say no, this hasn't been delivered."It's not going to be delivered. And, actually, by continuing we are making it worse."Lord Alderdice told the programme he does not believe the loyalist paramilitaries are making a genuine effort to transition away from criminality."What I've seen is more talking about transition, and transformation, and no doubt with an invoice provided, for how much money is needed to be made available from public services in order to pay off these people." Cathy McIlvenny's sister, Lorraine, was murdered by UDA members in previously told Spotlight, in 2013, that she dealt with Winston Irvine when he arranged a punishment shooting of her nephew, Craig, in believes the sentence given to Irvine is not enough, and says loyalist paramilitaries will continue as long as funding is still available."They're just being given money to keep them quiet and make it look to the rest of the world now that the British government has solved the Northern Ireland problem."But, it hasn't. It's made it worse for the communities."In 2013 it was alleged to Spotlight that Winston Irvine was a UVF leader, something which he has denied as "preposterous". No explanation was given in court as to why Irvine and his co-accused had the the arrest, police discovered UVF paraphernalia in Irvine's home, and that of his co-accused Robin in sentencing, Judge Gordon Kerr KC concluded the movement of weapons had not been directly connected to terrorism.54-year-old, Workman, of Shore Road in Larne, was sentenced to five years - the minimum custodial sentence, which the PPS said it would not be guns were found by covert police six weeks after a hoax bomb, which targeted a peace event in Belfast attended by then Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney in March said UVF involvement in the hoax attack was a primary line of inquiry. Prior to his arrest and conviction, Winston Irvine spent more than a decade as a paid community role gave him access to high-level contacts and enhanced his credibility as a peace 49-year-old, who received a number of supportive character references during the case, provided a pre-prepared statement in which he claimed to be a "trusted interlocutor" in community relations and the peace his arrest sent shock waves through the British and Irish governments because of how they often rely on community workers to engage with loyalist his arrest, Irvine was suspended from his role at the north Belfast community group Intercomm Ireland, in line with its internal disciplinary left the organisation several months said it was "difficult to convey the impact" the case had on its team who were "shocked, disappointed and felt let down" by Winston Irvine's actions.A statement added that "significant reorganisation (was) required to continue to deliver on our commitments to projects and fulfil obligations to funders and to the community".But Irvine continued to work on funded projects in unionist and loyalist areas while on bail for the weapons charges.
Leader Live
11 hours ago
- Leader Live
Further five arrests made by police investigating disorder
Police have said the latest arrests include a 25-year-old man who has been detained in connection with an arson attack on Larne Leisure Centre, and a 13-year-old girl who has been charged with rioting. The leisure centre was significantly damaged following the incident last Wednesday. The 25-year-old man was arrested following the search of a house in Larne at the weekend on suspicion of conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life. The disorder started in Ballymena on Monday after an alleged sexual assault of a girl in the town last weekend. Two 14-year-old boys, who spoke to a court through a Romanian interpreter, have been charged with attempted rape. A peaceful protest on Monday evening about the alleged assault was followed by attacks on police and properties housing ethnic minorities. The PSNI described the scenes as 'racist thuggery'. The disturbances in the Co Antrim town continued for several nights and spread to other areas of Northern Ireland including Portadown, Larne, Belfast, Carrickfergus, Londonderry and Coleraine. By Monday morning police said 28 arrests have been made in relation to the disorder, and they expect to make further arrests in the coming days and weeks. Four people were due to appear before court on Monday, including a 13-year-old girl charged with rioting by officers investigating disorder in Ballymena on Wednesday June 11. A 40-year-old man was charged with riot following the first night of the disorder in Ballymena on Monday June 9, and a 33-year-old woman has been charged with child cruelty relating to the disorder. Detectives investigating online posts relating to recent public disorder have charged a 32-year-old man to court. He has been charged with sending menacing messages through a public electronic communications network and with encouraging or assisting offences believing one or more will be committed. He is further charged with possession of a class B controlled drug, and was due to appear before Coleraine Magistrates' Court on Monday. Meanwhile, graffiti in Bangor and on an unoccupied house in Chadwick Street in south Belfast are being investigated as racially motivated hate crimes, and at Brompton Park in Ardoyne, around 30 youths set a wheelie bin on fire. Assistant Chief Constable Melanie Jones said 64 police officers were injured during the disorder, but said the situation is now much calmer. 'Our heightened presence in our local communities and continued community engagement to de-escalate violence continued last night… thankfully, similar to Saturday, the situation was much calmer,' she said. 'I issued a public plea to parent/guardians and families of young people who have been driving the criminal activity in some areas to warn them of the serious consequences of their actions. 'I am asking for continued conversations amongst local families to deter young people from criminalising themselves.' Ms Jones said the chief constable Jon Boutcher and other senior members of the PSNI have been meeting with local community representatives of those affected over the weekend. 'Everyone deserves to feel safe on our streets. So, just as we will seek justice for women and girls who report heinous crimes to us, we will also seek justice for local innocent families who are being targeted by criminality fuelled by hate,' she said. 'We will continue to robustly investigate the disorder over the last number of days but do not want to see any more young people criminalised by being caught up in this activity. 'Thankfully, none of our officers policing this disorder reported being injured on duty last night. We have 64 of our colleagues currently recovering from injury and I commend their bravery and unwavering efforts.' She also reiterated an appeal for information around images released by police of a number of individuals they wish to interview. 'If you are able to identify any of the people shown in these images or can provide information about them you should contact us on 101 or on our major incident portal, which is accessible on our website,' she said. 'I would also like to reassure the communities that we serve that we will continue to maintain our presence and protect streets. 'We are grateful for the support of all who condemn this criminality and would, once more, repeat our appeal for calm across Northern Ireland in the coming days.'
