Report from Day 2 of Daniel McColgan’s inquest. Madden & Finucane represent Daniel’s family.
A postal worker has been describing how he saw two loyalist gunmen shoot Danny McColgan at a sorting office in Rathcoole in north Belfast almost 13 years ago.
The Catholic 20-year-old was hit multiple times in the head and body as he lay face down on the ground in January 2002.
He was attacked while arriving for work at the postal office, which the inquest heard had been targeted by gunmen twice before.
A postal worker who arrived at the office shortly after Mr McColgan told the inquest on Tuesday that he saw two men shooting at the ground – both had scarves covering their faces and one was carrying a handgun.
They ran towards him and jumped into a waiting car which was then driven off.
The work colleague said that he got out of his own car and when he ran over to the spot, he saw Mr McColgan lying on the ground gasping for breath and in a pool of blood.
Another colleague described how when he, and two other workers, left flowers at the murder scene later that day a passerby told him to wind their necks in, before spitting at the flowers – an act which the coroner John Leckey described as disgraceful.
A barrister acting for the McColgan family described the actions as evil and wicked.
Nobody has been convicted of the shooting, which was initially claimed by the Red Hand Commando – a cover name for the outlawed loyalist group the Ulster Defence Association.
