THE key witness in the Robert McCartney murder trial has been warned by police that he is under an IRA death threat. The PSNI has offered to move Brendan Devine to a safe location and to place him on a witness protection scheme.

The sisters of Robert McCartney were warned by police on Friday that they are also under threat. Gemma McCartney said yesterday: “They didn’t specify if it was from an individual or a paramilitary group but they said it was a threat of personal attack.” It is the third time the PSNI has passed on such warnings to the sisters.

Devine has been threatened by an individual as well as the IRA, and both plots against his life are regarded as “very serious”. Police have visited him three times in the past week to advise him on security after receiving fresh intelligence.

Security sources say that it is not clear if the paramilitary threat was authorised at leadership level. The IRA’s third battalion covers both the area where Devine lives and the area where McCartney was killed.

The IRA link carries serious implications for the peace process, and the British and Irish governments will want to know whether it was sanctioned at a high level. The IRA is due to give its response later this month to an appeal by Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein president, to devote itself to entirely peaceful means.

The threat is thought to be an attempt by IRA friends and supporters to protect Gerard “Jock” Davison, a leading republican who has publicly denied giving the order to murder McCartney in Magennis’s bar last January. Davison was suspended from the IRA after an internal investigation into the murder, but was told that he would be re-admitted after a reasonable time had elapsed.

Davison left Belfast nine days ago when his uncle Terence was arrested by detectives investigating McCartney’s murder. Terence Davison was later charged with the murder.

Jock Davison told friends he was travelling to America. The PSNI refused to comment on his current whereabouts.

The IRA previously told Devine and other witnesses that they were free to give evidence, and they were also urged to do so by the Sinn Fein leadership.

Last night Devine’s mother Ann confirmed: “I have heard of threats to his life and we are taking them seriously.” Asked about IRA involvement she said: “I certainly wouldn’t like to think they were.” She was aware of a threat from a criminal who had been making inquiries about Devine’s whereabouts. “We know the man who is involved and so do the police,” she said.

The criminal, a well-known Belfast gangster with family and criminal links to the IRA, was seen in an Audi car near Devine’s home on the outskirts of Belfast.

He asked several people where Devine lived and the house was pointed out to him by one man. He has sent several messages to Devine threatening his life.

The perception that Devine is the sole or main witness willing to give evidence is adding to the threat against him. In fact there are at least two other witnesses.

One is a woman who witnessed the incident while driving to collect children from a concert.

Another witness who saw what happened from a short distance away has also came forward in the last week and police are hopeful of making further progress in their investigation.

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