Man gunned down by INLA in own home, inquest told

AN INQUEST in Derry was told yesterday that an INLA gunman murdered a 28-year-old local man in the bedroom of his home by firing…

AN INQUEST in Derry was told yesterday that an INLA gunman murdered a 28-year-old local man in the bedroom of his home by firing two shotgun blasts at him from point blank range.

The victim, Bryan McGlynn, who was in bed with his girlfriend when the gunman burst in, sustained a lacerated heart and lung when the first shot hit him in the chest.

He was shot a second time in the back of the left shoulder as he collapsed on to his knees at his bedside.

Mr McGlynn died instantly when he was gunned down in the early hours of the morning of June 3rd, 2007.

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He lived with his girlfriend Jennifer Cowley (26) in their Fountain Hill home in the Waterside area.

The deceased, who worked as a bouncer and who was also a bodybuilder, pushed his girlfriend back on to the bed when one of two masked men burst into their bedroom.

The murder was claimed by the INLA, who alleged Mr McGlynn was a drug dealer, but Det Supt Frankie Taylor, who led the murder inquiry, said at no time was Mr McGlynn ever arrested for drug offences.

The police officer said that following the murder 12 people were arrested, but no one had ever been charged in relation to the killing.

He said neither the two getaway cars used by the murder gang nor the shotgun had been recovered by the police.

Asked by senior coroner John L Leckey to comment on media reports that Mr McGlynn had been a drug dealer, Det Supt Taylor said that was speculation.

“The motive is not completely clear, but it would be fair to say his past probably played a part in his murder,” he said.

“There is no information to suggest that Mr McGlynn was a member of the INLA This was the brutal execution of a man carried out in front of his girlfriend,” he added.

Ms Cowley told the inquest that two men had forced their way through the locked front door of the house she had been sharing with her boyfriend of one year.

“There was not a lot of time to think. It all happened so quickly,” she said.

“As soon as the bedroom door was burst open, the first shot was fired. When the door opened Bryan pushed me back on to the bed. I can think of no reason for his murder,” she said.

Describing the killing as brutal, the coroner returned a verdict in accordance with the medical evidence.

Speaking after the inquest, Ms Cowley said that since the murder she had never returned to the home she shared with her boyfriend.

“The fact that Bryan’s first action was to throw me on to the bed when the gunman burst in showed his concern for me. The last two and a half years have been very difficult for me.

“It has been an awful time, but I’ve come through it.

“I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy and I just hope that those responsible are some day caught,” she said.