Legal action by loyalists interned to 'even up the score' is settled
A legal action over claims that loyalists were wrongly interned at the height of the Troubles in Northern Ireland to “even up the score” has been settled.
Proceedings issued by east Belfast man Jim Wilson were resolved on confidential terms, a High Court judge was informed.
Mr Wilson was among a group of 19 elderly Protestant men who sued the UK state for allegedly imprisoning them without trial in order to balance the number of Catholics detained under the policy.
At least five of the cohort have died since writs were first issued more than a decade ago.
Internment without trial was introduced in 1971 as violence raged in Northern Ireland. Nearly 2,000 people, most of them Catholic, were locked up over the next four years. Actions were brought against the Northern Ireland Office, PSNI, Ministry of Defence and Secretary of State by men from the so-called loyalist side of the community. They alleged the British Government abused its power by jailing them because of their religion, and to demonstrate internment was not just focused on Catholics.
One of the men involved in the litigation previously expressed his desire for vindication.
Aged in his nineties he stated at an earlier stage in the legal process: "I was taken like a new-born child for nothing.”
Mr Wilson's claim was identified as one of the first cases to be examined. The 73-year-old was arrested in July 1973 and interned for 14 months at the old Long Kesh prison camp. He previously described how it resulted in him losing his house, job and missing out on the birth of his first child.
His action was listed for a five-day hearing at the High Court.
But his barrister told Mr Justice Rooney that the case had been settled on a confidential basis.
Counsel confirmed: “The defendants are to have judgment against the plaintiff, with no order for costs (between the parties).”