Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“The announcement that a pot of £1.6m is to be shared among people previously convicted of being part of an IRA gang including Danny Morrison will stick in the craw of many Unionists, particularly when they recall how UDR man Colin Worton has been treated.
“If, like the other men in the UDR Four case, he had been convicted and subsequently acquitted on appeal he would have received compensation. However, because the case was so weak against him that it was stopped at the halfway point by Lord Justice Kelly and he was acquitted, he is said to fall outside the statutory scheme. Consequently, even though he served precisely the same 30 months as co-accused had served, they, for that and further time, are compensated but he is denied compensation. That is an absurd state of affairs.
“We are told often that devolution is about being caring, local and bringing solutions where uncaring direct rule Ministers did not bring solutions. Sadly, in the Colin Worton case, the local Minister David Ford has to date made no difference.
“In light of the recent decision to pay compensation to these Republicans following the quashing of their convictions I call on the Justice Minister to revisit the case of Colin Worton who has never received a penny for the time he wrongly spent behind bars.”