THE wait may finally be over to bring justice for the 2001 killing of journalist Martin O’Hagan, following the arrest of a 42-year-old man in the UK, which officers say is part of an ongoing investigation into the crime.
Mr O’Hagan was a prominent investigative reporter for the Sunday World newspaper. He was shot dead by the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) on 28th September 2001 in Lurgan, Co Armagh.
It is understood that a man was arrested yesterday morning by detectives from the Legacy Investigation Branch of the PSNI in the Sheffield area of England, with assistance from counter terrorism and South Yorkshire Police.
He has since been removed to Northern Ireland for questioning at Musgrave Police Station in Belfast. Police also conducted a search of a property in Sheffield as part of the investigation.
The LVF was a notorious breakaway faction of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), based in the mid-Ulster area, and formerly led by prominent paramilitary figure Billy Wright, also known as ‘King Rat’. Wright himself was assassinated by members of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) in HMP Maze on 27th December 1997.
At the time of his death, Mr O’Hagan was 51 years-old. He drew particular ire from loyalists owing to both his extensive work on stories related to the activities of the LVF organisation, as well as his admitted involvement with the Official IRA when he was a teenager during the 1960s.
It is understood that in the weeks leading up to his death he received numerous threats, with one prominent local loyalist figure telling him ‘You have been clocked walking here’. Mr O’Hagan’s death marked the first killing of a journalist conducted in their line of work during the Troubles. To date, no individual has yet been held accountable for his death.
See More: Billy Wright, Inla, LVF, Martin O'Hagan, Uvf
