My plea to the prime minister: At age 90 I cannot keep waiting for victim pension

I am a 90 year old man and this is my story.

If you will have the patience to read this I will tell you what happened me.

During my lifetime my country has called for its people to step forward and provide service on a number of occasions, the first was a call from a great man you often quote prime minister, Sir Winston Churchill.

In 1970 I volunteered for and joined the UDR.

On February 2 1972 I left my home to feed livestock in sheds in the farmyard on our modest 50 acre farm located on the Fermanagh-Donegal border and was ambushed by the Provisional IRA.

I was shot, seriously wounded and spent the next two weeks in hospital.

Upon recovering I returned to my farm and continued to answer the call of my country in my duties as a part-time soldier.

On July 16 1973 I again left my home to feed livestock and was again ambushed and shot by the Provisional IRA, I was less seriously injured this time but only because one of the guns jammed.

It was one of the first times the Provisional IRA used an Armalite rifle.

Had I been hit by it, I would have surely lost my life.

During this attack the gunmen turned their weapons on my family home, my wife was running to my aid from my home and is only alive today by the breadth of a hair, which was how close she came to the Armalite bullet which passed her through my back door and hit the wall inside my home.

On that morning my three young sons; 10 years, 9 years and 7 years were almost orphaned.

Although a middle aged man, I was orphaned.

My elderly father had been in hospital, when he heard of the attempt to murder me and my family the shock killed him.

My children lost their grandfather prematurely.

I invite you to seek information on the investigations into both attempts to murder me and what I see as the manslaughter of my father.

I suspect you will find no evidence of any investigation other than recording my statement — failure number one.

The reaction from the government was to have my Commanding Officer summon me to a meeting where he told me I would be provided with protection but only if I agreed to move out of my home.

If I refused to move then I would not be provided with protection.

I ask you to remember that reference to me includes my wife and three young sons.

I was forced to leave a farm which had been in my family for many generations so that I could protect my family — what the government refused to do. We received a pittance for the farm.

Two of my sons have since taken out loans to buy land as they were deprived of the opportunity to follow me as the next generation of our family to farm my land.

I know I can never get this back now but it is a regret I will take with me to my grave, whether I could have survived another attack or not, I dearly wish I had never left.

The government effectively blackmailed me to leave or receive no protection — failure number two.

I claimed compensation for my injuries, a claim which the government fought vociferously.

For being shot and seriously injured in 1972 I received £400 compensation.

For being shot and injured in 1973 I received £700.

For being forced to flee my family farm to protect my family I received nothing.

The government fought to prevent me from receiving an acceptable and proportionate level of compensation.

Consider what I as a soldier serving my country received compared against others who carried out criminal acts but who have managed to secure high levels of compensation through smart lawyers exploiting the legal system — failure number three.

I was offered a full time position in the UDR and lacking alternative options I accepted.

Whilst on duty in Enniskillen on November 8 1987, delivering to our UDR representatives a wreath to be laid at the war memorial, I was blown up in the bomb the Provisional IRA exploded at Enniskillen cenotaph.

I was lucky compared to many others and suffered minor injuries only.

I didn’t even bother with a compensation claim.

The current delays to the victims pension are mainly political but also procedural and process focused, I ask you to understand and insist those around you understand that there are people like me involved, people who may not live long enough to see if my country will fail me a fourth time or if in the winter of my life you will do the right thing and lead this issue through to delivery.

Prime Minister, I ask you to adopt a tactic from the man you have so often reflected admiration for and who I also believe would have ‘done the right thing’.

I ask you to take the issue of the Victims Pension and mark it as Sir Winston Churchill would have done — Action This Day!

Yours sincerely,

John Barton, County Fermanagh