2 months ago
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Sean Brown was abducted and murdered in 1997
By Julian O'Neill
BBC News NI crime and justice correspondent
A coroner is to write to the Northern Ireland secretary requesting a public inquiry into the murder of GAA official Sean Brown by loyalists in 1997.
Coroner Patrick Kinney made his remarks at a hearing in Belfast on Monday.
He said Mr Brown's inquest cannot continue due to material being withheld on the grounds of national security.
He will request a decision within four weeks. A lawyer for Mr Brown's family said they were saddened and angered that the inquest was being stopped.
Mr Brown, 61, was abducted in Bellaghy, County Londonderry, and shot near Randalstown.
He was locking the gates of GAA club Bellaghy Wolfe Tones when he was taken by the Loyalist Volunteer Force.
The former Police Ombudsman Baroness O'Loan has backed the family's call for a public inquiry.
The Police Ombudsman examination of the case found an RUC investigation into Mr Brown's murder was "incomplete and inadequate".
Last week, a court heard that more than 25 people, including state agents, have been linked by intelligence material to Mr Brown's murder.
