Courts / Tyrone / Report

Man wanted in connection with 1998 NI murder remains in custody with consent to bail

Date
2014-12-19

Stage
Charge Or Pretrial

Primary locality
Dungannon

County
Tyrone

Summary

Francis Lanigan, 49, remains in custody despite a High Court bail order. He is wanted in Northern Ireland for the 1998 murder of John Knocker, who was shot in a hotel car park in Dungannon. Lanigan was arrested in January 2013 on an extradition warrant and has been held for almost two years. He argues that extradition would pose a "significant risk to his life." The court noted that Lanigan had worked under the assumed name Kieran McCrory at a Dublin gym for 15 years, a fact discovered through a covert DNA test on a coffee cup. He was deemed a flight risk and refused bail in February 2013, but secured a fresh bail application on Monday.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Man wanted in connection with 1998 NI murder remains in custody with consent to bail. Charges or matters: murder. Procedural stage: charge_or_pretrial

When:

May 31, 1998 Incident
January 2013 Incident
February 2013 Incident
2014-12-19 Publication

Why: The court also heard that gardai were aware Mr Lanigan was living under that name for a number of years before his arrest because a detective had covertly gone to the gym where he worked, done a DNA test on a coffee cup and ascertained that the man living as Mr McCrory was really Mr Lanigan. CNI source report