Michael Stone’s victims hit out at ‘gratuitous comments’ from Jamie Bryson after UDA man’s early release

The decision to release Stone was taken by parole commissioners on Monday and Stone was freed from Maghaberry Prison on Tuesday, the PA news agency reported.

Stone, a former member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), killed three people in a gun and grenade attack at Milltown Cemetery in west Belfast following an IRA funeral in 1988.

A legal challenge had been launched by his victims’ families in a bid to prevent him applying for early release from prison, but was dismissed by the Court of Appeal last year.

He was freed under the Good Friday Agreement in 2000 but was returned to prison six years later for trying to kill then Sinn Fein leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness at Stormont.

In November last year, Northern Ireland’s highest court ruled that Stone could apply for early release from prison.

He was found guilty of three other murders including a milkman and also shot a joiner in the head, firing at another man up to 16 times with a submachine gun.

The families of his three Milltown cemetery victims issued statements through Relatives for Justice, expressing the anguish they continue to suffer as a result of the murders.

The family of John Murray said: “On a week when John should have been celebrating both the birth of his sixth grandchild and his 60th birthday, we have instead had to endure the news of the early release of the person responsible for John’s murder. The lack of clarity from the relevant bodies has been nothing short of insulting .

The family of Thomas McErlean said: “As a family we have pursued legal action to try and ensure Stone remained imprisoned. It is unjust Michael Stone is able to move forward with his life when he took the lives of Thomas McErlean and many other people.”

Family of Dermot Hackett said that they “still live with the heartache caused by the murder of their husband and father, son and brother and not a day goes past without them thinking of him”.

All three families said in their statements that questions remain about alleged state collusion with Stone in his murders.

However loyalist activist Jamie Bryson lauded Stone’s release in a series of tweets.

“Fantastic news that Michael Stone has been released from prison,” he Tweeted. “The real scandal is that vexatious & politically motivated legal proceedings kept him in prison far longer than he should have been.”

He added: “Michael Stone should now be afforded the same treatment as IRA ex prisoners. He should be left in peace to enjoy his life with his partner, family & friends. He not only served his time, but far beyond that.”

Mr Bryson also asked why Stone was described as “a loyalist killer” rather than “a loyalist veteran”, adding that “IRA veteran” was a common term used by the media.

Asked by the News Letter, Mr Bryson confirmed he had not acknowledged any of Stone’s six victims in his social media commentary on the UDA man’s release.

He then told the News Letter: “I think it is regrettable that any lives were lost in Northern Ireland.”

Relatives for Justice spokeswoman Andree Murphy said the Milltown families would not respond to his comments.

“The families will not engage [with] gratuitous comment and prefer to remember their loved ones lost to them,” she said.

Innocent Victims United Spokesman Kenny Donaldson said the decision to release Stone will cause “anxiety for many” and also “feelings of injustice”.

He added: “Those feelings are experienced by innocents up and down the length and breadth of Northern Ireland and beyond who witnessed hundreds of convicted terrorists leave prison in 1999/2000, in some cases having served a paltry few years despite having been handed down multiple life sentences for the grievous crimes they committed.”

“Michael Stone has displayed motivations towards systemic terrorism and regrettably he isn’t on his own. Our thoughts are with all innocents impacted by the early release of those guilty of heinous terrorist crimes and also with the families who have yet to see anyone held accountable for the crimes visited upon them/their loved ones.”

UUP MLA Doug Beattie said: “Michael Stone is a convicted murderer and his victims’ families will forever continue to carry the hurt caused by the murder of their loved ones. This is a sobering reminder that many hundreds of families in Northern Ireland - and further afield - lost loved ones as a result of terrorist violence and have to look on as convicted murderers have the chance to rebuild their lives – some even gaining high political office - whilst their victims are gone forever.

“It must be acknowledged that Michael Stone was released under due process and the rule of law, via a legal framework that cannot be denied to him while being applied to others. He will be under the supervision of the Northern Ireland Probation Board and it is for them to ensure that the rules applied in respect to his bail are met.”

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