Martin O'Hagan's assassin? Did LVF Robin 'Billy' King secretly work for UK security service?

[TonyGosling]

Martin O'Hagan: journalist's killers still at large 10 years on
Despite Sunday World's naming of five LVF suspects and death threats against paper's journalists, no one yet charged
Henry McDonald, Ireland correspondent guardian.co.uk, Sunday 25 September 2011

A decade after Martin O'Hagan became the first reporter to be murdered by paramilitaries in the UK, his fellow journalists at Northern Ireland's best-selling Sunday newspaper are still receiving death threats.

The latest threat to staff at the Sunday World came a few weeks ago when journalists were warned by sources in the loyalist community that the Ulster Volunteer Force planned to send a parcel bomb to their newsroom. In total, 50 threats have been officially recorded.

No one has been brought to justice for the murder of O'Hagan, which took place 10 years ago this week, a fact that Jim McDowell, editor of the Northern Ireland edition, claims would have sparked an international outcry if it had happened in Liverpool, Manchester or London.

"We feel like we have been fighting a lone battle for the last 10 years," said McDowell.

Asked why there has been relatively little progress in the case, McDowell replied bluntly: "Informers – or as we call them in this part of the world, touts. State agents who are a protected species."

O'Hagan was shot dead in front of his wife, Marie, on the night of 28 September 2001, after the couple had enjoyed an evening at a pub in Lurgan. The journalist had been spotted in the bar by a Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) sympathiser who phoned contacts in the terror group to say O'Hagan was in the pub. As the couple walked home after closing O'Hagan was ambushed and shot up to seven times while he tried to shield his wife from the bullets.

Attention focused on five members of the LVF, including two brothers: one allegedly fired the shots, the other allegedly drove the getaway car. The Sunday World has consistently named the five as the key suspects in the murder. This naming has brought further death threats and physical attacks on the paper's journalists; LVF supporters assaulted McDowell outside Craigavon courthouse last year.

The murdered reporter's friend, the Sunday World's news editor, Richard Sullivan, says no one at the paper has escaped the death threats as it continues to expose the so-called 'para-mafia' in Northern Ireland – former terrorists who have moved into drug dealing and other "ordinary" crimes.

"There is not a single person in this building who either individually or collectively hasn't escaped these 50 threats, all of which were relayed to us by the police," Sullivan said.

McDowell and Sullivan are adamant that the gang responsible for O'Hagan's death were – or still are – working for one of the security forces in Northern Ireland.

There is, however, one ray of light around what has otherwise been a dispiriting anniversary. A spokesperson for the Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland confirmed on Friday that one man will face charges in connection with O'Hagan's murder.

And while reporters on the mainland are coming under greater pressure to betray sources and hand over information to the police, the organisation Index On Censorship says the O'Hagan case is a timely reminder of the dangerous conditions journalists operate in across Northern Ireland.

John Kampfner, chief executive of Index, describes the killing as "not just a low point in the Northern Ireland conflict but in the history of democracy, and a free press on these islands."He added: "The failure to prosecute or properly investigate the Sunday World's claims that state forces were involved in the killing is an embarrassment."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/sep/2 ... s-at-large

[Whitehall_Bin_Men]

06Apr08 - Who killed Martin O'Hagan? The name of the man generally believed to have killed Martin

Why has Robin 'Billy' King not been prosecuted by the PSNI for the murder of NUJ Belfast branch secretary Martin O'Hagan?

Here's a quotation from the April 6th 2008 edition of Irish tabloid the Sunday World which gives the name of the man most people who have looked into the case believe shot Martin. But the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) refuse to charge this man with Martin's murder.

"Tragically and unfortunately, his killers including Robin 'Billy' King have never been brought to justice."

That quote was in the page 22-23 article entitled 'Martin was very proud to be a tabloid reporter - his work affected so many and his spirit lives on with us - Tribute Night for Shot Reporter.

What dark forces operating within the PSNI have prevented Marty's killer even coming to court?

Who did it?Sources say the two leading suspects are still shooting people despite police being informedJournalist, April/May 2003It's 18 months since Northern Ireland reporter Martin O'Hagan was gunned down near his home in Lurgan. Police have told the NUJ they have interviewed a number of people and are still prioritising the case. But there have been no charges.
Belfast freelance Mike Browne, who specialises in security investigations, sorts through the claims and counter-claims.

Colleagues of murdered journalist Martin O'Hagan are increasingly concerned about police efforts to apprehend his killers. Many are now openly suspicious the police hunt is being blocked to protect an agent withing the loyalist terrorist group behind his death.

The investigation is now in its eighteenth month, and police assurances about catching the killers are hard to reconcile with reports the main suspects are still involved in serious crime, but remain free.

Martin O'Hagan, a married 51 year old father of three daughters, was the popular investigative reporter with the northern office of the tabloid Sunday World newspaper, shot dead in Lurgan in Sepember 2001, on his way home after a night out with wife Marie. He was secretary of the NUJ Belfast branch.

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSN) representatives assured an NUJ delegation last autumn that every effort was being made to track down the killers, and the case had "the highest priority", but that insufficient evidence existed to charge individuals.  Irish NUJ National Organiser Seamus Dooley has since said there were still real concerns that there seemed to be no progress, despite police assurances over resources and personel.

One thing that has puzzled Martin's friends is the police announcement on the anniversary of his death that one person who they wished to question was "outside the jurisdiction".  The Sunday World identified the "suspect", based on information from the inquiry's leading detective.  The paper said he was in hiding among loyalists in Scotland.

But this "suspect" arranged to return to the north to be questioned at Lisburn police station.  After two hours he was released without condition, and has effectively been ruled oput of the inquiry.  His interview brought to the nine the number of people questioned without any charges.

Reliable information surfaced, however, that on the weekend he was identified in the paper, this "suspect" was spotted in Lurgan reading the Sunday papers, arguably calling into question whether he was actively being sought, and whether police genuinely believed he played any part in the murder. The name was not among those circulated quickly after the murder.

Again, reliable information suggests there is another suspect still at large, whose house was searched in connection with the murder in October 2001, but who has also fled the north.  The man, whose identity is being withheld, is said to have been connected to the Loyalist Volunteer Force's drugs operations.

More poignantly, a PSNI officer working as a liaison officer with Martin's widow Marie took his own life in Lurgan police station.  There had been information this officer had been linked with threats against Rosemary Nelson,  the Lurgan solicitor killed by loyalist terrorists in 1999.  But this claim has been ruled out by informed sources, who attribute the man's death simply to tragic circumstances.

Two of the leading murder suspects are siad to have been involved in recent shooting incidents in the confined area of the Mourneview estate, close to where Martin was killed.

A number of sources claim that last summer the leading suspect and the individual suspected of burning the dummy getaway car on the night of the murder used shotguns to blast out windows from a luxury apartment complex in Lurgan, in an extortion bid.  It is claimed they were videoed during the attack and that the tape was passed to police, but without further development.

Martin's friends are increasingly convinced someone within the LVF is an agent, working for the security services, and that no charges are being  brought against Martin's killers to protect him.

They point to the 1989 murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane, when the leading RUC investigator was unaware for years that four of the five killers were security force agents at the time of the murder.

Perhaps now the investigation team is not aware that one of the suspects is a "tout".

Martin's colleagues are asking why the plethora of security surveillance units have not apparently been deployed against the Lurgan LVF, especially as it has been engaged in a loyalist feud with the larger Ulster Defence Association, which left three dead and nine injured.

http://www.nuj.org.uk

Who Murdered Martin O'Hagan and why?by Kevin Cooper

http://media.gn.apc.org/fl/0210moh2.html

One year on, is anyone looking for the answers? Saturday 28 September 2002 will be the anniversary of the murder of Martin O'Hagan - yet no one has been brought to book. Few if any questions have been answered.

He was not the first journalist to be killed in the 30 years of conflict in Northern Ireland but he was the first journalist to be targeted and killed for his work.

He continues to be remembered and missed by his colleagues and friends of the Belfast and District Branch of the NUJ. We miss his good humour, his love of mischief, his tireless commitment to socialism and trade unionism. He was no saint; he was, like the rest of us, human and made mistakes. He could infuriate and delight you at the same time. He was not always treated with the respect and dignity he deserved.

But I for one continue to be proud to have known him. He was fearless and determined as a journalist. He refused to be silenced doing stories that others feared to touch.

It is important that we clearly lay the blame for Martin's murder at the door of the LVF murder team that carried it out. It is also important to look at possible motives, the political climate and the type of story that Martin had worked on and was working on at the time of his murder to understand some of the concerns of his close colleagues.

The following is a list of questions, which I and others believe need to be addressed:

If this murder inquiry is considered to be a priority by the PSNI why have there been no arrests to date?What if anything is the Sunday World management doing to bring pressure to bear to ensure a successful investigation by the PSNI?Was any one aware of threats to Martin O'Hagan prior to his murder and if so who and was that information passed on to him?Is there any connection between the libel case in London and his murder?Was there any connection between collusion stories, which Martin O'Hagan was working on and his murder?Why have there been so few stories or follow-up investigations in the British and Irish media particularly from outside Northern Ireland?Are any of the suspects in his murder currently or formerly police or security force informers or intelligence agents?Why is the murder of Martin O'Hagan being treated so differently from the murder of Veronica Guerin?What has happened to Martin's journalistic material, which was seized at the time of his murder?

As Chair of the Belfast and District Branch I call upon any NUJ members with information - regardless of how insignificant they may think it is - to come forward and help the police with their investigation.

Please help to uncover the truth. Ask yourself what can you do as a journalist and/or a NUJ member to ensure he is remembered and that his story is told.

http://media.gn.apc.org/fl/0210moh2.html