A man arrested in connection with the murder of a leading Belfast Provisional IRA member almost exactly a year ago has been shot and seriously wounded in the city.
Local reports say Scott McHugh was shot three times, at least once in the head, shortly before 10am on Friday morning in west Belfast. The shooting happened in Distillery Court in the Lower Falls district of the city.
Neighbours said the 27-year-old was blasted with a shotgun in a house but managed to stagger outside to seek help. He was rushed to the nearby Royal Victoria hospital where the Police Service of Northern Ireland said he was in a stable condition.
Last year McHugh was arrested and questioned about the murder of IRA commander Gerard “Jock” Davison in the Market area of central Belfast. Comrades of Davison later took revenge on another former IRA man, Kevin McGuigan, whom they blamed for killing his one-time colleague. However, McGuigan’s family continued to insist he had nothing to do with the Davison murder.
Following his release from custody after no charges were made against him, McHugh gave an interview to Irish tabloid the Sunday World, in which he said that “in no way, shape or form was I involved in ‘Jock’ Davison’s murder. The finger of suspicion is still being pointed at me, but I didn’t do it. The police know it, but I’m still being hassled.”