Report fails to mention many murders – McCord

Posted By: October 25, 2015

News Letter(Belfast). Saturday, October 25, 2015
A man whose son was murdered by the UVF says a paramilitary report this week failed to mention the many murders by such groups since they went on ceasefire.

Raymond McCord’s son – Raymond McCord Jr – was beaten to death in 1997 by a UVF gang which the Police Ombudsman said contained several Special Branch agents.

Mr McCord slammed a joint PSNI-MI5 report this week which assessed the status of paramilitary groups.

He noted that an academic suggested this week that there had been no paramilitary murders since the ceasefires.

“But in fact the UVF have killed 31 Protestants,” he said. The UDA and IRA have also killed a lot of people, he said – the latter an estimated 18-19.

“None of those killings are mentioned in the report, including that of my son.”

He said that victims should have input into such reports.

“Are the DUP asking us to believe the IRA had gone away? When it was revealed the Army Council was running Sinn Fein, only then did they go back into government with them? I am not saying they should have gone in or out – I am highlighting the hypocrisy of the DUP. Peter Robinson should resign.”


ACC Stephen Martin replied that the PSNI is “all too aware that the past is ever present for all those who live every day with the loss of a loved one. The Chief Constable has made it clear that the PSNI will do all that it can, within its limited resources, to support agreed mechanisms for dealing with the past”.

He added: “The assessment of the paramilitary groups was commissioned by the Secretary of State and was produced in accordance with specific terms of reference. It was scrutinized by an independent review panel which recognized the work as ‘fair, balanced and credible’.”