There was a knock at door ... and my world caved in

Peter Gibson was a 23-year-old student when his father John was murdered by the IRA on October 21, 1993 due to his role as a company director with Henry Brothers, who carried out construction work for security forces.

“I can remember it almost like it was yesterday. I was a student in Coleraine,” Peter said.

“On the Thursday morning our head lecturer came in and said there would be no lectures on Friday. I drove home late that afternoon to my mum’s house.

“My mum and dad had been separated for a number of years, but stayed on friendly terms. My dad would come up to my mum’s house for dinner regularly after work.

“I remember him arriving that day. He showed me a letter that said he was to get a national award from the British Diabetic Association. Like myself, my father had lived with diabetes from a young age.

“Outside his work, his life was devoted to trying to help people with diabetes. No one had a bad word to say about him. All he did was try and earn a living and for that he was seen as a legitimate target.

“He left the house after 7pm that night and drove to his house (in Newtownabbey) which is only about five minutes away from my mum’s. He stepped out of his car and I’m led to believe two guys stepped out from behind the garage and shot him four times.

“After 9pm there was a knock at our door. I answered it to two police officers. They told me my father had been shot and killed. And that was that – my world caved in.

“My father was aware of the dangers of carrying out contracts for the RUC. He didn’t publicly advertise he worked for Henry Brothers but because of his work with diabetes he was a public face.

“He’d been given a bulletproof jacket. I think he wore it four times if even that. It just wasn’t him. After his killing I asked the police did my father have the option of a protection weapon, and they said yes, but he turned it down flat. If he’d had a weapon the most he would have done was thrown it at them.

“Cleaning the blood and forensic chalk marks off his driveway will stick with me until the day I die. I broke down when I was doing it.

“How I coped at that time was my mates and drinking. It’s still my mates who help me through. I’ve got a great bunch of friends.

“I’m still fighting to have my father’s killer rearraigned when he gets released from prison (Robert Duffy was imprisoned for John Gibson’s murder, but given an early release under the Good Friday Agreement. He is currently serving a prison sentence in the Mountjoy Prison in Dublin for attempted murder).

“I haven’t been in the best of health – I’ve had three heart attacks and ups and downs with work, but I’ve learnt that you may knock me down but you’re not going to knock me out. I will keep coming back.”

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