Gerard Casey Inquest

Gerard Casey was murdered by loyalist gunmen as he slept in his bed at his home near Rasharkin in north Antrim on 4 April 1989. Gerard had been threatened during interrogation by the RUC at Castlereagh Holding Centre in 1988. A legally held weapon was seized from him and never returned and the RUC had also drawn up detailed plans of the layout of his house. One of the weapons used to murder Gerard was a VZ58 assault rifle, imported into Ireland from South Africa by UDA intelligence officer and paid British agent Brian Nelson. This weapon was later used in the Greysteel massacre. In 2007 the High Court ruled that the Chief Constable of the RUC had unlawfully withheld important documents from the Coroner who held an inquest into Gerard’s murder in late 1989. In 2010 the Attorney General ordered a new inquest into Gerard’s death. Today the presiding Coroner Mrs Justice Keegan will consider when Gerard’s inquest may be listed for hearing.