A man from Co Down only learned of an historic UVF plot to kill him after the Police Ombudsman report into the Loughinisland massacre was published, The Irish News reports.

Peter McCarthy has said he was unaware until the report’s publication that the paramilitary gang responsible for the 1994 shootings, which left 6 dead and 5 injured, had abandoned a plan to shoot him some 19 months earlier.

Mr McCarthy’s cousin, Peter McCormack, was shot in the Thierafurth Inn two weeks later.

Lawyers representing Mr McCarthy and Mr McCormack’s relatives say the revelation underlines the need for further investigation into the Thierafurth Inn shooting.

Solicitor Gavin Booth of Belfast firm KRW Law told Irish Legal News: “Since Loughinisland it’s become evidently clear that a policy of collusion existed throughout County Down and now many families seek answers.

“Further investigations need to happen in relation to the attempts on Peter McCarthy’s life and the murder of Peter McCormick.

“The families and survivors of the attack on the Thierafurth are calling for further investigations into this attack and a full disclosure of the truth they deserve.”