THREE GUNMEN fired a volley of shots over the coffin of former dissident republican John Brady, who took his own life while in police custody in Derry last Saturday.
The gunmen, each wearing a balaclava and camouflage jacket, appeared just before the funeral cortege left the home of his sister Lorna Brady in the Drumallagh Estate in Strabane, Co Tyrone. A fourth man, also dressed in a paramilitary outfit, shouted orders to the gunmen who then fired pistols into the air. Hundreds of people who witnessed the incident then clapped and cheered.
Brady (40) was jailed for life in 1991 for the murder of RUC Reserve constable David Black near Strabane in 1989 but was released on licence under the Belfast Agreement. He was arrested and detained in police custody last weekend for questioning about an alleged assault and on Saturday afternoon was found dead in an interview room in Strand Road PSNI station. The circumstances are being investigated by Police Ombudsman Al Hutchinson.
No members of the PSNI were present at the house or during the funeral procession although a PSNI helicopter flew overhead.
Speaking at Requiem Mass in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Fr Declan Boland said Mr Brady’s sudden death had shocked the community to the core and the Police Ombudsman’s pledge of a full inquiry had to be honoured.