UVF 'supergrass' has sentence increased

By Q Radio News

A loyalist 'supergrass' who admitted the murders of five people and hundreds of other offences has had his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

However Gary Haggarty (47) will not serve them in jail as he was released in May 2018. 

The former UVF leader in north Belfast was given a 35-year jail term which was reduced to six-and-a-half years for helping the police.

Today the Court of Appeal ruled that the original sentence was too lenient.

"The Court considered that the minimum term before taking into account mitigating factors was 40 years," it said. 

"Applying the appropriate discount for the pre-agreement disclosures, a 60% reduction under the 2005 Act and a generous 25% discount for the plea results in a tariff of 10 years."

The Court also said it was "satisfied, therefore, that the tariff of six and a half years was unduly lenient given the catalogue of infamy and murder of which he was guilty" which substituted a tariff of 10 years.

It noted "a very considerable discount from a 40 year starting point" which it said provides "a generous incentive for those who are prepared to assist in combating terrorist violence".

Haggarty was a paid police informer for over a decade and provided information on 55 loyalist murders and 20 attempted murders in over 1,015 police interviews.

The vast majority of people named by Haggarty in his police interviews will not face prosecution amid state concerns about a lack of supporting evidence - only one suspect is to face trial for two murders.

It emerged in May that he had been released from prison and put into a witness protection programme in a secret location outside Northern Ireland.