Inquest into death of man at Lisburn police station hoped to be heard this year

An inquest into the death of a man at Lisburn police station is hoped to be heard this year.

David McGowan, 28, was found dead in his cell at the police station on May 30, 2014 after he and his girlfriend were arrested outside a flat in east Belfast.

The Police Ombudsman completed a report into the death, and a police custody sergeant was subsequently charged with gross negligence manslaughter and misconduct in public office.

However, the police custody sergeant was cleared of the charges in 2018.

A pre-inquest review at Belfast Coroner’s Court took place on Monday.

The inquest had previously been listed for November 2022.

Work around disclosure of material for the inquest is ongoing.

Coroner Joe McCrisken said he wants the bulk of disclosure to be completed within at least the next eight weeks

Malachy McGowan, acting for next of kin, said the family are keen to get a date for the inquest and requested it be heard in Belfast.

Mr McCrisken said there are a lot of competing court resource issues in Belfast, adding he believes they are ready to start looking at dates to hear the inquest this year.

But without a finalised witness list on Monday and material to be disclosed, Mr McCrisken said he hoped to be in a better position, with an estimation of how long the inquest will last, by the next hearing to set a date.

“There is no point in me sending this to the listing team with a guesstimate on how long it is going to take, because court resources are valuable so we really need to have good idea about how long this inquest is likely to last,” he said.

Mr McGowan also said the next of kin have lodged a judicial review around the decision by Chief Constable Simon Byrne in the police disciplinary.

But he said that he doesn’t believe it will affect the running of the inquest.

Another review hearing has been scheduled for February 16.