Journalist shot dead by loyalists

A Northern Ireland journalist was shot dead by loyalists close to his home in Lurgan, Co Armagh last night.

Martin O’Hagan, who worked for the northern edition of the Sunday World, had spent the night in a local pub and was walking home with his wife at around 10.30pm when he was shot by a gunman waiting in a van.

The Loyalist Volunteer Force is believed to have been responsible for the murder.

Mr O’Hagan was a key witness in a case arising out of the Channel Four programme, The Committee, which exposed collusion between the North’s security forces and loyalist paramilitaries.

Since 1992, he had been the subject of loyalist death threats.

The former LVF leader Billy Wright had tried to kill Mr O’Hagan after the journalist wrote a series of articles about him.

On that occasion, Mr O’Hagan was forced to leave his home and work in the south.

The RUC are examining a burned-out vehicle found a short distance away from the murder scene which may have been used by the killer.