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| Top secret files open to coroner | Top secret files open to coroner |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Top secret reports into an alleged police 'shoot-to-kill' policy more than 20 years ago are to be opened to Northern Ireland's chief coroner. | Top secret reports into an alleged police 'shoot-to-kill' policy more than 20 years ago are to be opened to Northern Ireland's chief coroner. |
| John Leckey said Chief Constable Hugh Orde had granted him access to confidential reports compiled by Sir John Stevens and Sir Colin Sampson. | John Leckey said Chief Constable Hugh Orde had granted him access to confidential reports compiled by Sir John Stevens and Sir Colin Sampson. |
| He is currently undertaking a preliminary hearing into seven controversial killings. | He is currently undertaking a preliminary hearing into seven controversial killings. |
| The reports' details can't be disclosed without the chief constable's go-ahead. | The reports' details can't be disclosed without the chief constable's go-ahead. |
| Mr Leckey is conducting inquests into the deaths of five republicans and a Catholic teenager in 1982, and an IRA member 10 years later, where it is claimed the police operated a shoot to kill policy. | Mr Leckey is conducting inquests into the deaths of five republicans and a Catholic teenager in 1982, and an IRA member 10 years later, where it is claimed the police operated a shoot to kill policy. |
| IRA men Eugene Toman, Gervaise McKerr and John Burns were shot dead near Lurgan, County Armagh, by the Royal Ulster Constabulary in November 1982. The killings provoked huge controversy and Mr Stalker was brought in to investigate. | IRA men Eugene Toman, Gervaise McKerr and John Burns were shot dead near Lurgan, County Armagh, by the Royal Ulster Constabulary in November 1982. The killings provoked huge controversy and Mr Stalker was brought in to investigate. |
| However, his report was never published and earlier inquests into the killings were abandoned. | However, his report was never published and earlier inquests into the killings were abandoned. |
| Secure location | Secure location |
| In his preliminary hearing, Mr Leckey is also examining the killing of Catholic teenager Michael Tighe, shot dead at a hayshed near Craigavon the same month. | In his preliminary hearing, Mr Leckey is also examining the killing of Catholic teenager Michael Tighe, shot dead at a hayshed near Craigavon the same month. |
| The other killings being re-examined are those of INLA suspects Peter Grew and Roddy Carroll, who were shot dead near Armagh in December 1982 after being followed across the border by a police surveillance unit. | The other killings being re-examined are those of INLA suspects Peter Grew and Roddy Carroll, who were shot dead near Armagh in December 1982 after being followed across the border by a police surveillance unit. |
| Mr Leckey is also looking at the death of Pearse Jordan, 23, an IRA man from the Ballymurphy area of west Belfast, who was shot dead by the RUC in disputed circumstances after a car collision on the Falls Road on 25 November 1992. | Mr Leckey is also looking at the death of Pearse Jordan, 23, an IRA man from the Ballymurphy area of west Belfast, who was shot dead by the RUC in disputed circumstances after a car collision on the Falls Road on 25 November 1992. |
| Mr Leckey will have to travel to a secure location to read the Stalker and Sampson reports. | Mr Leckey will have to travel to a secure location to read the Stalker and Sampson reports. |
| He will not be able to share the details with anyone else - including lawyers representing the dead men's families - without the agreement of the chief constable. | He will not be able to share the details with anyone else - including lawyers representing the dead men's families - without the agreement of the chief constable. |
| The police could decide whether to apply for public interest immunity (PII) certificates which would prevent some of the material being made public. | |
| Tommy Carroll, brother of one of the dead men, said: "We would consider this announcement today to be a very positive development after all these years - it didn't have to take this long. | |
| "I would hope the chief constable and secretary of state don't go down the road of issuing PII certificates. | |
| "It is now 25 years on and the situation has changed." Mark Thompson, of Relatives for Justice considered the development important and he too cautioned the Chief Constable about trying to cover up information. The excuses of the past no longer existed, he said. | |
| "We are in a new dispensation, a new era. Twenty-five years have passed and the shootings need to be examined in an open and unhindered way," he said. |