Kincora Boys' Home: Abuse victim fails in appeal over HIA inquiry

Gary Hoy shouted "cover-up" as he left the court

A victim of abuse at Kincora Boys' Home has failed in his appeal to overturn a ruling that investigations into the home be conducted by the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) inquiry.

Gary Hoy was sexually abused by two men who were subsequently convicted.

Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan ruled that "the HIA is entitled to proceed along the route mapped by it".

There have been allegations that a paedophile ring at Kincora was linked to the British intelligence services.

Sir Declan said: "There is a suggestion in this case that children in Kincora were abused and prostituted in order to satisfy the interests of national security.

"If that is true it must be exposed.

"As a society we must not repeat the errors of the institutions and should remember the obligations to our children."

Dismissing the appeal, he added that the decision "does not in any way detract from the need to ensure that our obligations to these children are satisfied".

The Kincora boys' home was at the centre of a child abuse scandal between the 1950s and the 1980s

Mr Hoy stood at back of court as the verdict was read and said to the judge: "If it was your grandchildren, would you not want justice?"

He then walked out of the court and shouted: "Cover-up."

Three senior care staff at Kincora were jailed in 1981 for abusing 11 boys.

At least 29 boys were abused at the home between the late 1950s and the early 1980s.

One of the men who was later convicted, William McGrath, is believed to have been an MI5 agent.

The HIA was set up in 2013 to investigate child abuse in residential institutions in Northern Ireland over a 73-year period, up to 1995.

These included a range of institutions, run by the church, state and voluntary sector.

On Tuesday, the HIA will begin its public hearings into what happened at Kincora.