Gun used in slaying ‘belonged to Army’

CONSTABLE John Larmour (42) was off-duty and helping out at his brother’s ice cream parlour in south Belfast when he was shot dead by the IRA in October 1988.

His son Gavin, who was just 13 years old at the time of the murder, believes it was not properly investigated to protect a high-level republican informer, and made a complaint to the Police Ombudsman.

An Ombudsman’s report in 2008 found the initial police investigation of the attack was not thorough and that not all information had been passed to detectives.

Gavin claimed the gunman was recruited as a police agent after detectives presented him with evidence that would have led to his conviction for the killing.

Oneoftheguns, a Browning 9mm, used in the attack on Barnam’s World of Ice Cream on Belfast’s Lisburn Road in October 1988, belonged to Corporal Derek Wood, who was murdered by the Provos alongside Corporal David Howes after they drove into the path of an IRA funeral in March 1988.

Their weapons were taken by the IRA during the attack.

The gun was later discovered in Germany, where it was believed to have been used in IRA operations on mainland Europe.

A second gun used in the attack was identical to a gun used by loyalist killer Michael Stone when he attacked the funeral of three IRA members shot by the SAS in Gibraltar.

George Larmour, brother of the victim, published his book They Killed The Ice Cream Man in 2016 about his quest for the truth.