15 November 2001 Edition
Sectarian victim denied compensation
Omagh solicitor Patrick Fahy has questioned the attitude of the RUC/NIPS towards attacks on Catholics after a man whose house was burned down by loyalists was denied compensation.
James Maxwell, who lives outside Castlederg in west County Tyrone, was burned out of his home on 14 August this year by a gang of loyalists. Now the Compensation Agency has refused to award him damages because RUC boss Ronnie Flanagan, in a letter to the Agency, said he didn't believe the attack was, "committed maliciously by a person acting on behalf of or in connection with an unlawful association".
In July and August of this year, six attacks were carried out in the area outside Castlederg, generally regarded as a strongly loyalist area. Jim Maxwell's house was just one of three Catholic houses in the district. Maxwell was released from hospital on the day of the attack and was staying with friends when his house was targeted. Loyalist bombs were planted in nearby Newtownstewart, while other attacks in Strabane and Sion Mills were recorded.
An RUC Superintendent Clifford Best admitted that the RUC chief constable's decision not to issue the certificate was based on the fact that "there was no evidence at the time" before disclosing that a forensic report into the arson attack was not yet available. Best also acknowledged that a sectarian motive was one of the lines of inquiry the RUC was following.
Now Maxwell's solicitor, Patrick Fahy, has requested a copy of the forensic report. The retired bus driver has been left destitute by the loyalist attack on his home, which was not insured.
James Maxwell, who lives outside Castlederg in west County Tyrone, was burned out of his home on 14 August this year by a gang of loyalists. Now the Compensation Agency has refused to award him damages because RUC boss Ronnie Flanagan, in a letter to the Agency, said he didn't believe the attack was, "committed maliciously by a person acting on behalf of or in connection with an unlawful association".
In July and August of this year, six attacks were carried out in the area outside Castlederg, generally regarded as a strongly loyalist area. Jim Maxwell's house was just one of three Catholic houses in the district. Maxwell was released from hospital on the day of the attack and was staying with friends when his house was targeted. Loyalist bombs were planted in nearby Newtownstewart, while other attacks in Strabane and Sion Mills were recorded.
An RUC Superintendent Clifford Best admitted that the RUC chief constable's decision not to issue the certificate was based on the fact that "there was no evidence at the time" before disclosing that a forensic report into the arson attack was not yet available. Best also acknowledged that a sectarian motive was one of the lines of inquiry the RUC was following.
Now Maxwell's solicitor, Patrick Fahy, has requested a copy of the forensic report. The retired bus driver has been left destitute by the loyalist attack on his home, which was not insured.