Man killed 'for standing up to dissident republicans'
A man shot six times in 2003 was killed because he stood up to dissident republicans, an inquest heard today.
Danny McGurk, 35, was sprayed with bullets because of earlier confrontations with members of the Real IRA in the days and months leading up to his murder in West Belfast.
Belfast Coroner’s Court was told how Mr McGurk was murdered in front of his young children after a neighbourhood dispute at Ross Road in the city escalated.
He suffered wounds to the stomach after three men armed with pistols entered his home on August 17.
Family solicitor Trevor McCann told the hearing that Mr McGurk was killed because he was “an individual in the community who was standing up to people who considered themselves to be somehow people who could control other people’s lives and wanted to have the people subservient to what they wanted”.
Nobody has been convicted of Mr McGurk's murder.
The feud began on April 22, 2003, when Mr McGurk had a disagreement with Real IRA figures at the Slaibh Dubh bar in West Belfast.
A later dispute between neighbours of Mr McGurk, days before his death, turned ugly when a gang of up to 14 men armed with machetes and iron bars attacked him.
While recovering, he told police that members of the Real IRA, known as the “Coca Cola gang”, had targeted him.
Belfast Coroner John Leckey said the motive for the murder was “revenge”.
“It really was about a loss of face on the part of one or more persons in the RIRA which led to his death,” said Mr Leckey.
Speaking outside the court, Mr McGurk’s family said their hurt was still raw and added that they wanted to see justice done.
His mother, Mary Ellen McGurk, 73, said: “Danny was murdered for no other reason than vendetta.
“There was no political or criminal reason for him to be murdered other than vendetta.
“We would also ask the 32 Sovereignty Movement to condemn the murder. If not, they should hang their heads in shame for not trying to give our family some sort of closure and justice.”
Detective Superintendent Hugo Frew told the court that police had carried out 16 searches in the area, had recovered ammunition and explosives and had made 10 arrests, whom they believed included the perpetrators.
He confirmed to the coroner that Real IRA members were believed to be behind the killing.
He also confirmed that the Real IRA was influential in the area where the murder took place at the time, although its presence had waned since then.
He said a gun believed to have been used in the shooting had been recovered on the Letterkenny Road, Derry, later that year, but no convictions had been achieved.
A spokesman for the family said the inquest raised more questions than it answered.
“The family are deeply concerned about the fact that the murder weapon has been recovered and that the Police Service of Northern Ireland are refusing to give any subsequent forensic history of that weapon.
“A number of searches were made immediately after Danny’s death, which led to 10 arrests and the discovery of explosives and weapons, but yet nobody has been charged with that. All these matters concern us.”
Mr Frew added that the victim had produced a knife during an altercation at a taxi company in the city centre the night before his death.
The police officer said the dispute had followed the attack on Mr McGurk on August 10.
He added that the perpetrators of that attack were “suspected to be members of the Real IRA and it followed a dispute between neighbours in which he (Mr McGurk) became involved”.
He confirmed that the neighbours were believed to be connected to the Real IRA.
He added that the investigation into the murder was still active.
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