Martin Doherty’s inquest, which took place 10 years after his death in 1994, heard the Dublin man was shot dead while trying to fend off a loyalist bomb attack.
Doherty, from Ballymun, was 35 at the time of his death and was reported to be a member of the IRA.
He was guarding a republican function at the Widow Scallans pub when he was shot several times in the chest on May 21st, 1994.
Doherty had attempted to challenge two men who pulled up outside the pub in a Northern Ireland-registered car and tried to plant a substantial bomb, of which only the detonator exploded.
The inquest heard there were more than 150 people on the premises for the function, and if the bomb had exploded, it would have had devastating consequences.
Collusion
His family is to now lodge a civil action against
George Hamilton
, the Chief Constable of the
Police Service of Northern Ireland
, alleging that Doherty was a “victim of collusion”.
In the statement of claim to be lodged in the High Court in Northern Ireland, the family says the bomb "plainly designed and intended to kill and maim innocent and unsuspecting members of the public, was detonated by members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)".
The statement also says the weapon used to kill Doherty, a 9mm pistol, had “been used by the UVF in at least three other murders and at least three other attempted murders”.
However, only the detonator exploded and the family claims a similar occurrence took place four months after the attempted attack on the Widow Scallans.
Only the detonator of a bomb exploded on the Belfast to Dublin train during that incident.
The statement adds: “On May 5th, 1996, the UVF conducted a hoax bomb attack at Dublin Airport, wherein they claimed that two 10lb Powergel bombs had been left.
Sinn Féin offices
“On March 2nd, 1997, a bomb was planted outside the Sinn Féin offices in
Monaghan
, where again only the detonator exploded. Consistent with the earlier bombs, the explosive used was Powergel and it was the same explosive used in the Widow Scallans attack.
"On May 25th, 1997, another bomb was planted in Clanbrassil Street, Dundalk. Again only the detonator exploded in this bomb."
It also says a report by the Police Ombudsman noted that informants had provided information to the special branch of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) that the UVF had commercial explosives.
It is also alleged that the RUC had prior knowledge of some of these attacks.
These UVF plans, the family says, were sanctioned at brigade level within the UVF and all the “bombs in these connected incidents were ‘treated’ by the defendant to prevent them from exploding”.
“However, no measures were put in place to prevent the attacks, with one of the attacks resulting in the death of the deceased.
"The Dublin bombing and shooting was carried out by loyalist paramilitaries of the Ulster Volunteer Force, some of whom were agents of the defendant, and were assisted by members of the RUC in their terrorist activities."
They further claim Doherty’s death was “the result of the shooting that the defendants knew or suspected would occur as a result of the plan to commit premeditated murders at Widow Scallans pub”.
