The British government's commitment to decommissioning was questioned yesterday as the House of Lords passed legislation extending immunity within the decommissioning scheme in Northern Ireland, writes Rachel Donnelly.
An IRA informer was wrongly convicted of a brutal attack which resulted in him being jailed for 12 years, the Court of Appeal in Belfast heard yesterday.
Anthony O'Doherty (52) from Ballymena, is appealing for a second time against his convictions for aggravated burglary and causing grievous bodily harm to a Ballymena businessman during a robbery in his home in 1995.
The accusation came during the third reading of the Northern Ireland Arms Decommissioning (Amendment) Bill which extends the current immunity by one year, with the provision for an extension for a further year for up to five years, subject to parliamentary approval.
A Conservative amendment restricting the renewal period to three years was defeated by 160 votes to 102 and the Bill should receive royal assent today. Supporting the amendment, former Tory minister Lord Tebbit said many people had doubts about the commitment of the IRA and other terrorist groups to decommissioning.
Many peers were also "beginning to have doubts" about the government's commitment to decommissioning and he accused the government of applying little pressure on terrorists to hand over their weapons.
Informer's conviction appealed
O'Doherty's case has been referred back to the appeal court following an investigation by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, the body set up to probe possible miscarriages of justice.
He gained notoriety in the early 1980s as one of the first supergrasses and was the principal witness against his alleged RUC Special Branch "handler" when he was acquitted of murdering Sgt Joe Campbell outside Cushendall station in 1977.