ONE OF the two so-called supergrass witnesses in the loyalist paramilitary trial in Belfast said he and his brother handed themselves over to the PSNI three years ago because they “could not live with their lives”.
Robert Stewart also told Laganside Crown Court yesterday he was an alcoholic with a regular drug habit who in the weeks before going to the police stole £2,000 (€2,267) from his parents.
The non-jury Diplock court heard how Stewart and his brother David from New Mossley in north Belfast, after first travelling to England and then returning to spend time in Portrush, Co Antrim, decided that they would face “the rigours of the law”.
“I had a discussion with my brother that we did not want to go back , that we regretted the things we done, and we wanted to hand ourselves over,” he told presiding judge Mr Justice Gillen. “We could not live with our lives.”
The brothers are the chief witnesses in what is one of the biggest paramilitary trials witnessed in Belfast since the days of the major “supergrass” cases of the 1980s.
Robert Stewart told of how he and his brother admitted being involved in several crimes, including murder, on the second day of the trial of leading former Ulster Volunteer Force member Mark Haddock and 13 others.
Haddock and eight others are charged with a catalogue of offences, the most serious being the murder of former UDA commander Tommy English in 2000. All 14 face a range of charges, such as kidnapping, assault and weapons possession.
As on Tuesday, 13 defendants sat in the glass-covered dock, while Haddock, an alleged RUC informer and estranged from the UVF, sat guarded by prison officers in the body of the court.
Under cross-examination from Haddock’s lawyer, Frank O’Donoghue QC, the court learned why the Stewarts went to the PSNI in August 2008 to admit their involvement in the murder of Tommy English and in other UVF actions.
After agreeing to turn state’s witnesses against their former UVF associates, they served only three years in prison, were released last month and are now under protective police custody.
Stewart (37) said he was an alcoholic most of his life and had also taken a wide range of drugs over the years such as ecstasy and cocaine. He had also taken 60mgs daily of prescription Valium.
Stewart said they funded their journey to London and back to Portrush with £2,000 they stole from their parents, both of whom were on disability allowance. “I would agree with you, it’s terrible. I wish I had not done it,” he told Mr O’Donoghue.
He agreed he had difficulty with his memory at times, but “large events I don’t have difficulty with”.
Over the days in Portrush they decided they “were not going back” to their home and UVF roots and were “going to make a clean breast of things” to police.
During cross-examination, Haddock’s lawyer Mr O’Donoghue focused on what he said were several “inconsistencies” in Stewart’s 2008 statement compared to his evidence over Tuesday and yesterday. Stewart accepted there were a number of discrepancies but insisted his evidence in court was the truth.
Twitter in court: tweets allowed
Mr Justice Gillen yesterday issued a ruling permitting journalists for the first time to use Twitter to report on proceedings from the courtroom. He said he recognised there was significant interest in this trial. He said in a statement the permission "only extends to journalists and not the wider public in court" and will be reviewed should he become "aware of instances of improper use" which could adversely affect the trial.