Coroner firm over preparations for inquest into murder of loyalist in Portadown

By David Young, PA

A coroner has made clear he will not allow slippage in preparations for an inquest into the murder of a prominent loyalist in Portadown.

Richard Jameson was shot dead outside his home in the Co Armagh town in January 2000 in an attack attributed to the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF).

The 46-year-old was shot multiple times in the head and chest.

The killing took place amid a feud between the LVF and rival Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).

A long-delayed inquest into Mr Jameson’s death has yet to commence.

A review hearing was convened by coroner judge Richard Greene KC in Dungannon courthouse on Friday morning.

During the short hearing, the coroner heard updates from the legal parties involved in the proceedings on the protracted process of disclosing and security screening police evidential files that are relevant to the inquest.

Judge Greene said the inquest was not affected by the legal guillotine imposed under the contentious Legacy Act of the last Conservative government that saw a range of inquests halted.

“I can let the family be assured that, despite the fact that unlike previous inquests of a similar nature, where there was a guillotine effectively imposed upon the court, there is no such difficulty in this inquest,” he said.

“But that does not mean to say that timetables will be allowed to slip and that I expect in December, when the matter is reviewed, that a lot of the material on the agenda, in particular the undertakings and timetables for the processing, evaluation, marking up of the sensitive material will, if it isn’t already in an advanced state of completion, concrete timetables, realistic timetables will be provided so that a date for this inquest can be given.”

Noting that other inquests have been hit with delays around the disclosure process, the coroner added: “We will not be letting this matter slip.”

The next review hearing was listed for December 12th.