Daily Dispatch 13th September 2006

JUSTICE SUSPENDED FOR LOYALISTS - MAGINNESS

Commenting on the suspended sentence handed down for an ex-soldier involved in the Whiterock riots, SDLP Justice spokesman Alban Maginness stated:

“Just last week we saw loyalists getting suspended sentences – even though the car that some of them were travelling in had metal bars, balaclavas and plastic gloves.

“Now we are seeing an ex-soldier getting a suspended sentence despite being caught red handed on CCTV involved in the Whiterock riots in which police officers were pelted with bricks, bottles and other missiles.

“Far too often we have seen loyalists walking away scot free despite having been convicted of serious crimes. In one case, for example, a loyalist Gordon Hutchinson managed to get four suspended sentences within a year, including for possession of information likely to be of use to terrorists, drug dealing and affray. And still he did not go to prison.

“The SDLP have already got the Attorney General to appeal these lenient sentences and we will be doing so again. We are determined to get proper punishments to fit the crime. The lax approach to loyalists must end.”

 

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