Ballycastle: Family welcome inquest into German backpacker murder

A long-awaited inquest into the murder of a young German backpacker in Northern Ireland 36 years ago is expected to take place.

The body of Inga Maria Hauser, 18, from Munich was found in Ballypatrick Forest, Ballycastle, in 1988.

No-one has ever been charged in connection with her killing.

Claire McKeegan, who represents the Hauser family, said the inquest would be “the first full examination of the facts in the tragedy” of the murder.

A preliminary hearing is due to be held in Belfast later on Monday.

Ms Hauser went missing after arriving in Larne on a ferry from Scotland in April 1988.

Her body was found two weeks later.

In 2020, the Public Prosecution Service confirmed that two individuals reported in connection with the murder would not be charged. It followed the submission of a file from police.

Police said at the time that they remained committed to bringing those responsible for the young student’s killing to justice.

Ms McKeegan said Ms Hauser’s family, including her sister Friederike and her nephew Viktor, were “seeking justice and truth”.

“Since Inga’s brutal murder in 1988, her family back in Germany have been desperate for the truth as to what happened to her that night, who inflicted this cruelty on her and why those responsible have not been brought to justice,” she told BBC News NI.

“Sadly her parents are not alive to see this day. The pain that they endured in the aftermath of Inga’s death was indescribable and all-consuming.

“This inquest will be the first full public examination of the facts in the tragedy of her murder.”

Ms Hauser’s mother died in 2019 and her father in 2006, never knowing what happened to their daughter.

The late SDLP politician, John Dallat, campaigned for years to keep a spotlight on the case.

Ms McKeegan said the Hauser family was grateful for the public support over the years, and in particular to Mr Dallat “for keeping Inga’s case in the public eye as the years went on and the case went cold”.