A LEADING loyalist jailed for nearly 50 terrorist offences, including involvement in the murder of a Co Armagh grandmother, is set to challenge his conviction. William James Fulton (40) is serving a minimum 25-year sentence following the longest criminal trial in Northern Ireland legal history.
He was found guilty of aiding and abetting in the killing of Elizabeth O’Neill, who died in an explosion at her home in Portadown. She picked up a bomb thrown at her house in 1999.
Fulton, Queen’s Walk, Portadown, was convicted of that and 47 other offences in December 2006. They included seven attempted murders, directing terrorism and membership of the outlawed Loyalist Volunteer Force.
He was also found guilty of possession of the gun which killed Catholic taxi driver Michael McGoldrick at the height of the Drumcree marching dispute in 1996. The Court of Appeal was told yesterday that the case, which has been listed for May, could last up to three weeks.