THE family of a man killed by loyalists in Northern Ireland seven years ago may complain to the Police Ombudsman about the PSNI investigation, an inquest heard today.
Father-of-one Craig McCausland, 20, from Dhu Varren Crescent in North Belfast, was shot by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) at his home in July 2005. He died later in the Royal Victoria hospital.
Police inquiries into the murder are largely complete and no new leads are expected, a lawyer for the service told the city-centre inquest. Nobody has been charged with the killing.
Family lawyer Padraig O Muirigh said: “The family does have some concerns in relation to the standard of the police investigation. It may well be that a complaint may be lodged with the Police Ombudsman.”
Mr McCausland`s partner and her two children, aged nine and six at the time, were at their home in the Woodvale area of north Belfast when three men burst in and shot him five times.
Although there have been 10 arrests, no-one has been charged over the murder, police said.
Coroner Suzanne Anderson was holding a preliminary hearing into the death.
Police lawyer Ken Boyd told the inquest police were considering 35 boxes of material, comparing them with another IT system and scanning them onto their computers.
“This process is liable not to be finished this side of Christmas,” Mr Boyd said, adding that the information would be indexed and put on a disc.
Mr O Muirigh said he had not yet received papers on the matter but was awaiting a file from the family`s previous solicitors.
The coroner scheduled another review hearing for January to check on progress.