The family of a man shot dead in west Belfast nearly five years ago have expressed hope that an inquest can secure answers from police.
Kieran Wylie, 57, was shot at close range at a house in Lenadoon Avenue on May 17 2020.
Two of his children, daughters who were 16 and 28 at the time, witnessed the killing.
Members of his family attended the first preliminary hearing at the Laganside Courts in Belfast on Tuesday, ahead of an inquest into his death.
Coroner Joe McCrisken heard that Mr Wylie’s family are set to make submissions around the scope of the inquest and disclosure of material.
He confirmed he is content for an inquest to be held into Mr Wylie’s death, and said preliminary applications for disclosure of material will be made to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (Poni).
The next preliminary hearing is set to take place on May 19.
Speaking outside court, solicitor Michael Clements of KRW Law, acting for the Wylie family, said his clients believe that state agents and/or informants were involved in Mr Wylie’s murder.
“We will say there is an arguable case of state breaching its positive obligation to take all reasonable steps to protect against loss of life,” he said.
“Mr Wylie’s murder took place within a much wider context of several other murders perpetrated by dissident republicans over a four-year period from 2018-2022.
“Our clients suspect there may be links, including a very specific concern that at least one of the murderers was involved in the murder of Sean Fox in 2022.
“The family have tried to get answers from the PSNI criminal investigation, Poni and by way of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests but to date remain very frustrated given the standard block response of NCND (neither confirm nor deny) on key issues of an intelligence nature.
“They hope the inquest will help dispel rumours and conjecture over what happened and that in turn will give them some measure of closure.”