LVF prisoners refused to co-operate with the police investigation into the murder of one of their own men in the Maze 10 years ago, it emerged today.
David Keys (26) was found strangled in a cell a fortnight after he and alleged associates were charged in connection with the double killings of two friends shot dead in a pub in Poyntzpass, Co. Armagh.
At a preliminary inquest hearing in Belfast today, Coroner John Leckey said police had sought the co-operation of other inmates who were in the jail's LVF wing at the time. He said: "They [the police] went to a lot of trouble but got no co-operation at all. . . . some (prisoners) are now deceased themselves.
"It was a big task for the police to track them all down, but none of those remaining alive would co-operate."
Keys, a father of one from Highfield Gardens, Banbridge, was found hanging from a window frame in his H-Block Six cell in March 1998. His wrists were also slashed.
Several prisoners were questioned about the murder, but none were charged.
He had been held with 24 LVF prisoners including three charged with him in connection with the murders of Damien Trainor, a Catholic and Philip Allen, a Protestant, who died when gunmen opened fire on customers inside the Poyntzpass bar two weeks earlier.