Wright inquiry to begin oral hearings

A public inquiry into the assassination of loyalist terror boss Billy “King Rat” Wright will finally begin oral hearings today.

Wright, 37, was shot dead by republicans inside the North’s top security Maze Prison in December 1997.

At the time of his murder he led the Loyalist Volunteer Force, a splinter paramilitary organisation waging a ruthless sectarian campaign against Catholics.

The British government bowed to pressure to hold a tribunal amid allegations that the authorities colluded with Irish National Liberation Army gunmen who carried out the killing.

It was one of four controversial murders in the North which retired Canadian judge Peter Cory said warranted public examination after studying the files.

But the Wright inquiry has been plagued by legal uncertainty since it was confirmed in November 2004.

The LVF chief’s father, David Wright, challenged Northern Secretary Peter Hain’s decision to carry it out under the Inquiries Act instead of the original Prisons Act.

It was feared this could allow the government to terminate the hearing and allow evidence to be kept secret.

A court ruled earlier this year that the tribunal’s change in terms was unlawful. But with costs already running into millions of pounds, it is now to proceed and begin hearing from witnesses.

The three-man panel, chaired by Lord MacLean, is due to sit for five weeks at Banbridge Courthouse in Co Down before a summer recess.

Professor Richard English, an expert on Irish politics and history, is the first to be called to the oral hearings.

Over three days in the witness box, he will be asked to outline the political context surrounding Wright’s murder.

The inquiry is expected to take a year to complete.