Gun victim's mother calls for inquiry

The mother of an 18-year-old schoolboy killed by loyalist paramilitaries 11 years ago today called for “a Bloody Sunday style-inquiry” into his and other murders.

Bridie O’Hara, whose son Gerard was shot dead in September 1992 in their north Belfast home, issued the call after fresh claims that he was a victim of security force collusion with members of the loyalist Ulster Freedom Fighters.

Gerard, a former newspaper delivery boy, and a pupil at St Patrick’s High School, was settling down in front of television with his mother in their home in the New Lodge area of Belfast when his killer struck.

A new book on jailed loyalist Johnny Adair and infamous C Company unit has alleged the gang was encouraged to attack the family’s home by a police officer.

‘Mad Dog: The Rise and Fall of Johnny Adair and C Company’, by journalists David Lister and Hugh Jordan, claims a loyalist was told by an RUC member that one of O’Hara’s six brothers was a member of the IRA.

According to the authors, the allegation was unsubstantiated.

The book identifies Gerard O’Hara’s killer as Stephen ‘Top Gun’ McKeague, who later died of a cocaine overdose.

It also alleges Adair’s unit was tipped off by police about a safe house used by Sinn Féin leaders, including Gerry Adams, on the outskirts of west Belfast but did not mount an attack.

An RPG-7 rocket attack was, however, launched by C Company at the Rock Bar in west Belfast following information that it was being used by the IRA for meetings.

A C Company gunman told the authors how during police interrogations a CID officer would let them hear republicans being quizzed and tell them what they were suspected of.

He told the authors: “You would maybe be able to hear what was going on in the other rooms and they’d be shouting next door at some guy they were questioning,” he said.

“‘You fenian b*****d, you f****ng b*****d,’ and your man would be saying to you: ‘He’s in for killing that policeman so-and-so.’

“There were times when the window or the door would be open and you’d be able to see out.

“He’d be looking out and he’s saying to you, ‘Did you see that guy there?’ and you’d say, ‘Yes,’ and he’s saying, ‘He’s a cop killer. He kills policemen.”’

Mrs O’Hara said the book’s claims had confirmed her suspicions that Gerard was a victim of collusion between the RUC and loyalists.

“For years I been saying Gerard was a victim of collusion and people looked at me as if I wasn’t wise,” she told PA News.

“All my suspicions fell on deaf ears. Now it’s coming to light.

“All I want is justice for my boy. He was only a schoolboy. Why would people have wanted to shoot him? Gerard wouldn’t have hurt a fly.

“I used to look at the relatives of those killed on Bloody Sunday in Derry and felt they had the right to learn the truth about why their loved ones died.

“We need a similar public inquiry into collusion, so my family and other families can get to the bottom of why their loved ones were killed.”

The allegations have surfaced a day before retired Canadian Judge Peter Cory is due to hand in his report to the British and Irish governments on six controversial killings during the Troubles.

He has been considering allegations of collusion in the killings of solicitors Pat Finucane and Rosemary Nelson in a gun attack in February 1989 and a car bomb in March 1999 respectively.

Judge Cory has probed allegations that a police unit looked on as a Portadown Catholic, Robert Hamill, was kicked to death in the town centre in May 1997 by a loyalist mob.

He has also examined the controversial circumstances surrounding the shooting of Loyalist Volunteer Force leader Billy Wright in the Maze Prison during Christmas 1997.

His report will also deal with allegations of collusion between members of the Irish Republic’s police and the IRA in the murders of Lord Justice Henry Gibson and Lady Cecily Gibson in April 1987 and RUC inspectors Bob Buchanan and Harry Breen in March 1989.