Protecting a source is costly
NORTHERN Ireland Assembly member Ian Paisley Jnr has paid a hefty price for refusing to reveal the name of a confidential source on information supplied about the murder of loyalist paramilitary Billy Wright in the Maze prison in 1997.
A Belfast court fined Mr Paisley 5,000 for keeping mum over the identity of a prison officer who supplied incriminating information about alleged actions by the Prison Service after the killing of Billy Wright, and the MLA will also have to meet legal costs of up to 38,000.
To all intents, Mr Paisley acted honourably when supplied with the information from the still anonymous source and, while his decision to maintain confidentiality may have breached the legal guidelines of the inquiry into Billy Wright's death, his credibility in the court of public opinion is not diminished.
All self-respecting politicians and, indeed journalists, would have taken the same course when given relevant information on a highly sensitive issue where the supplier demanded anonymity.
Mr Paisley escaped a term of imprisonment, which may have been within the remit of the court, but the punishment meted out is financially severe.
We must now await the outcome of the Billy Wright inquiry and hope that we will not be too disappointed after what has been an ill-judged decision to pursue Mr Paisley.
Above all, the truth must be established over the train of events leading up to and after Mr Wright's murder while he was in custody in Her Majesty's prison.
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Tuesday 14 February 2012
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