Man pleads not guilty to Coleraine murder

A man has denied murdering a Catholic man shot dead in front of his partner and her four children, a court heard today.

A man has denied murdering a Catholic man shot dead in front of his partner and her four children, a court heard today.

Mr Ian George Hanson is accused of murdering John McCormick (25), who was gunned down at Loughnahill Park in the Ballysally estate of Coleraine.

When charged with the June 2001 shooting, Mr Hanson (23) told police: "Definitely not guilty".

Mr Hanson of Alderbrook Gardens, Coleraine, was remanded in custody to appear by video link at Coleraine Court on March 10th.

READ MORE

Mr McCormick's partner and four children were in the house when two gunmen in boiler suits forced their way in. He died from wounds later in hospital.

At the time of the shooting, police blamed loyalists.

Three weeks earlier, the woman and two of the children escaped unhurt when their home was attacked with a pipe bomb, exploding in the hall of the house.

PA