PSNI wait six weeks to warn of death threat

Martin Meehan

Antrim Sinn Féin councillor Martin Meehan is furious that the PSNI took six weeks to warn him of a death threat against himself and party colleagues, choosing to inform him as he attended the South Antrim Assemby election count centre on 27 November.

The PSNI informed him that documents containing his personal details and those of fellow Antrim councillor Martin McManus and party activist Paddy Murray were found during raids on loyalist homes in Randalstown on 14 October. They said the information they had found could lead to a loss of life and had come from the UVF.

"Personal details relating to my colleagues and I were found during PSNI searches on loyalist homes in Randalstown in which six loyalists were arrested and is being linked to the UVF," said Meehan. "The PSNI handed me this booklet which I already received from them when they told me of a separate threat to my life in October. If this is an attempt to silence Sinn Féin in Antrim I'm afraid unionist paramilitaries will fail".

Paddy Murray's solicitor, Pádraigín Drinan, said Murray is a hate figure for loyalists in Antrim. She has documented attacks and threats against him and his family over the last six months. Graffiti painted near St Malachy's Catholic school by unionist paramilitaries warned Murray he was next. On 1 July a leading UDA member threatened to kill Murray.

Drinan has complained to the British/Irish Secretariat about the PSNI's reaction to that sectarian threat to kill Murray and how they tried to dissuade him from pursuing the matter.

"The PSNI told my client that if they proceeded with the prosecution the UDA man involved would not be held in custody and that he would be so angry at having to spend time in jail that he would take it out on him," she said.

Drinan said the PSNI told Murray he should think before he went ahead with the prosecution. The solicitor is now seeking to have Murray covered by the Key Persons Protection Scheme.