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POLICE IN Northern Ireland have released two people in relation to the murder of ex-IRA prisoner Kevin McGuigan.
The PSNI earlier confirmed that a 44-year-old man and 39-year-old woman has been arrested as part of their investigation, but both have been released.
Kevin McGuigan was gunned down on Wednesday night at 9pm in the Catholic Short Strand area of Belfast.
The 53-year-old – an ex-IRA prisoner – was spoken to as part of the investigation into the killing of Jock Davison, another republican figure, last May.
Gunned down
He was shot by two masked gunmen outside his home at Comber Court, the PSNI confirmed this afternoon.
McGuigan had been out with his wife – and got out of their car to open a gate when the men approached him and shot him several times.
He was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital but died a short time later.
“This was a ruthless and premeditated killing, carried out in front of Mr McGuigan’s wife Dolores outside their home,” Detective Chief Inspector John McVea said.
“At this point we believe two men were involved in the murder, approaching Comber Court on foot.
“They fired at Mr McGuigan from point blank range, striking him a number of times in the head and chest.
“They had their faces covered and were wearing dark clothing. Afterwards, they ran off.”
Condemnation
There has been condemnation of the death from across the North’s political divide.
Addressing speculation about the link between the McGuigan’s murder and the Davison murder, Detective Chief Inspector McVea said McGuigan was spoken to as part of the investigation into the murder of Jock Davison, however he was spoken to as a potential witness, not a suspect.
“At this point in time, that remains the position. Speculation is not helpful and is potentially dangerous.
People should allow the police investigation to take its course and provide any information they have to detectives.
“I would also appeal to those with influence in the community to use all their efforts to reduce tension and appeal for calm and restraint at this very difficult time.”
Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland this morning Sinn Fein’s MLA for Belfast South Alex Maskey cautioned people against speculation, stating that it was unwelcome, unhelpful and usually uninformed.
He urged people to leave these matters to the authorities.
The police have appealed for any witnesses to the crime.
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Some serious questions to be answered here.
He looks as if he has the mother of all hangovers.
Think he has cystic fibrosis. I remember around his trial the were saying he had severe health issues
@Brown Cows the Journal appears as pro-Nationalist because the media in this country are so blatantly biased against the Nationalist agenda/community in general.
That’s British justice for you!!!
This quote from his solicitor in court today seems to have been left out
from this article.
“Mr Shivers has been through a terrible ordeal whereby he has been repeatedly assaulted /abused whilst in prison and in hospital where he is continuously under armed guard.”
Fair play Sean
How are those allegations newsworthy on their own merit?
Cliff.
This article is not a complete guide to the trial. It is only one page long.
I have no doubt that if this happened in an English court that people there would be forced to resign. The North is still a bit of a Justice jungle.
A real miscarriage of justice was adverted here.
So your last (now deleted) comment was based on nothing.
Let me get this right, the defence didn’t argue that their client is actually innocent and didn’t burn out the car used by the killers but that the judge said something he shouldn’t have and the prosecution should not have prosecuted it as a ‘joint enterprise’ case but instead a ‘secondary party’ case? Does anybody every get off because they are actually innocent or is it all technicalities? No where in the artical did I read that the defence said their client didn’t do it
It is an article, not a legal brief.
Throughout the case they argued that he was innocent, and that their was no credible evidence to suggest otherwise, there still isn’t. There would have been a stronger case linking him to the shooting of JFK.
Typical Nationalist responses so far but no surprise which normally follows on from such articles. Have the Journal given up today with their ‘Fleg’ articles? Haven’t seen any so far!
I’m presuming you missed this article today: http://www.thejournal.ie/belfast-violence-arrests-flag-754696-Jan2013/
How Now Brown Cow in Cold Home Troll Hole.?
My comment was deleted yet again and this one had three likes, so it wasn’t an error which proved my point which you read before deleting it. Shaping the news my backside, setting your own agenda Journal
What’s ‘typical nationalist responses’?
shut up, browns cows
Id disagree with ‘typical nationalist responses’ my comments have been pulled,i cant comment on certain articles and the SF/CNN thread is full of anti SF westbrit comments.
Should the title not say “Shivers wins right to appeal”, only saying. It’s a bit misleading at a quick glance .
as far as im aware from reading the article on bbc his conviction has been quashed and hes in custody pending a decision on whether the DPP seeks a retrial. So hes on remand at the minute
Cheers
no prob!
Why would he get compensation? It was a procedural error on the part of the judge, not a conspiracy to imprison an innocent man.
There was many questions over the evidence gathered and its reliability throughout the case as well. If there was even the slightest piece of credible evidence that Shivers had anything to do with this, then the need for technical mishaps would never arisen. There wasn’t any evidence of any kind. That is the point here.
The Prosecution had to know that this case was not going to stand. Countless legal precedents and standards of evidence had to be ignored to stop the case from collapsing the first time.
It is no different than them building a case against you Cliff for these attacks.
Of course the defence would attack the evidence, that’s their job. The jury decided the evidence was credible.
The problem was purely procedural. Read the article again.
Brown Cow isnt that bad!
have your say