Kieran Doherty: Family 'frustrated' at inquest delay

Kieran Doherty was killed by members of his own organisation

The family of a murdered Real IRA man is "increasingly frustrated" by delays to an inquest into his death, a coroner's court has been told.

The body of Kieran Doherty, 31, was found dumped on the Braehead Road, Londonderry, on 24 February 2010.

The hearing on Thursday heard that evidence from the secretary of state's office is now available.

An Garda Síochána (Irish police) has also agreed to "fully engage" with proceedings, the hearing was told.

Kieran Doherty was kidnapped by members of his own organisation in Derry in 2010.

He was stripped, bound and shot dead before his body was dumped on the outskirts of the city, close to the Irish border.

The dissident republican group, the Real IRA, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Counsel for the coroner told Thursday's preliminary hearing that correspondence with An Garda Síochána has to date been limited.

Mr Doherty's body was found dumped on the Braehead Road

It has now agreed to meet and "fully engage" with the Coroner's Service, the hearing was told.

A barrister for the Doherty family said they were becoming "increasingly frustrated by the delay'" as proceedings have been ongoing since 2012.

The hearing was also told a first tranche of documents from the secretary of state's office was now available with a further tranche expected to be available by the end of 2021.

Counsel for the secretary of state said once all documents were available there would "inevitably be a public interest immunity exercise" to decide what would be redacted.

The Doherty family has previously called on the secretary of state to guarantee that no evidence is withheld from his inquest.

Coroner Brian Sherrard said he appreciated the Doherty family may not be fully aware of the progress being made in the case but that he was "satisfied with the ongoing activity".

Mr Sherrard told the hearing he expected the inquest to last three weeks and set a date of 7 November 2022 for it to begin.

He said he hoped the date would give the family "some endpoint".