Brendan Megraw

Human remains have been found in the search for Brendan Megraw.

The remains were found in County Meath, in a ditch at Oristown bog near Kells.

A forensic team had been searching for the body of Mr Megraw after he disappeared almost 40 years ago.

The 23-year-old was abducted in Twinbrook in 1978. He was taken away and murdered by the IRA who claimed that he was an undercover British agent.

The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains confirmed that the remains of a body have been recovered.  

There have been three previous searches for the body of Mr Megraw before now, with the latest commencing in August of this year.  The most recent search of five acres of bogland which have not previously been examined came after the ICLVR received new information.

A spokesperson for the organisation said: "The recovery of the body is now underway and the State Pathologist will begin the process of post-mortem and of formal identification."

The ICLVR was set up as a joint initiative between the Irish and British governments so that former paramilitaries could liaise with authorities in order to recover the bodies of the 16 Disappeared. 

The brother of Brendan Megraw, Kieran Megraw, spoke of his family's mixed emotions, saying: "We still have to get confirmation that it is actually Brendan, but it's within the area that they were going to start searching, so you have to be hopeful.

"It's a joy that a body has been found, but there's also a sense of sadness too."

The recovery of the body is now under way.

It is understood the excavations proper had not begun and clearance and preparation works were taking place when the discovery was made.

Forensic archaeologists surveyed the remote bogland one month ago and have spent the last few weeks analysing radar surveys, searching for anomalies in the ground.

Separate searches have also taken place on bogland a few miles from the Oristown site, near Wilkinstown, for Kevin McKee and Seamus Wright, both of whom were taken by the IRA in October 1972.

It is also suspected Joseph Lynskey, a former Cistercian monk taken from the Beechmount area of west Belfast in the summer of 1972, was also buried somewhere in the region.

Investigators believe one person living locally may hold vital clues to several families' decades-long quest to find the bodies of loved ones.

The IRA claimed Mr Megraw had confessed to being a British provocateur and Military Reaction Force undercover agent in 1978.

The ICLVR was established in 1999 after the Good Friday peace agreement and is acknowledged as a world leader in the search and recovery of human remains from bogland.

The remains of 10 of the Disappeared have been recovered.

The Megraw family were notified about the discovery at about 10am.

Kieran, one of Brendan's brothers, said he hoped the discovery would end feelings of helplessness.

"For our own family it was not until 1999 that we knew Brendan was dead and buried in Oristown. There will always be questions, but if this is Brendan and we get him home, that is the target.

"The target was to get Brendan's body back. If he was killed at the spot in Oristown he was all alone, and you think he would have thought he would never be back home - that's the thought most people would not want to happen to them, being alone.

"There was always a massive frustration when you felt that he was there and you couldn't find him and couldn't bring him home - that's now gone, we hope."

When contacted by forensic investigators this morning family members were asked what Mr Megraw might have been wearing at the time he disappeared, with one brother, Sean, suggesting it could have been a duffel coat and jeans.

Kieran Megraw said thoughts should also be with other families of the Disappeared whose quests continue to find loved ones abducted by the IRA.

"We are over the moon but surprised that it has come so quick after all this time," he said.

"I didn't really expect to get the call. And it is looking like it really is Brendan, obviously there will be DNA tests and so on.

"It is quite a shock for the family. Sometimes you maybe ask yourself twice, has it really come about, but there's joy and relief that it looks like it is his body."

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams welcomed the discovery.

"I hope the identity of the remains can be quickly verified and that this discovery will bring some closure to the family and loved ones of Brendan Megraw," he said.

Mr Adams appealed for anyone with information on the Disappeared to contact the commission and insisted they would not face prosecution.

Mr Lachanudis restraining Michael Stone during the attack

EXCLUSIVE: By Tina Calder

Peter Lachanudis was forced to quit his job because of cruel jibes and ridicule from the politicians he risked his life to protect.

Former soldier Peter was honoured for his bravery in helping to overpower and disarm deranged loyalist killer Michael Stone when he stormed Parliament Buildings brandishing a gun and what appeared to be a nail bomb shouting “kill Adams.”

Startling images beamed across the world showed Peter and fellow Stormont security guard Susan Porter risking their lives to grapple and disarm Stone who was also found to have been carrying a garotte and knives.

But if he expected the gratitude of MLAs for keeping the madman at bay, he was wrong.

Openly ridiculed and made the butt of cruel jokes, he decided enough was enough and quit his job at the seat of power.

In an exclusive interview with the Sunday World the 60-year-old relived the day he helped to thwart a one man murder mission and how he was shunned and ultimately driven from his job by the politicians he put himself on the line for.

The day of the attack started like any other; Peter was operating the scanning machine while his colleague Susan Porter was “on the door.” 

The usual school parties, media and MLAs were coming and going from the corridors of power.

“It was a normal day, then at around 11.30am there was a commotion at the door with a male voice shouting ‘kill Adams’ followed by Susan shouting ‘he has a gun’.

 

“I leapt from my chair to the door as she was trying to jam him in the doors,” he said. “I pulled her from the door and grabbed his arm as he was pointing the gun at her.”

In the desperate struggle that ensued Peter tried to force the gun from Stone’s hand as he was pointing it directly at his colleague.

“I was shouting at her to shoot him as I was still struggling with him.

“In his other hand was a bag with a fizzing sound from it, which he threw into the inner hall while shouting ‘it’s a bomb and it’ll go off in two minutes’.”

He later found Susan could not have used her gun, even had she wanted to – as it was a replica weapon.

“Eventually we got him to the ground as he was shouting ‘it’s going off’ and I was calling to people to get out of its way.

“I remember saying to him as I had him in an armlock ‘if that goes off we all die’, then with the help of my fellow doorkeepers we got him outside the building and secured and searched him for more weapons.

“He was dressed like a suicider with knives, garrote, nail bombs and stuff.”

 Peter Lachanudis

Police arrived 20 minutes into the incident and a grateful Peter and his colleagues handed Stone over.

“I was taken to the Ulster Hospital for a head injury I got in the attack.”

Weeks later Peter was honoured with a bravery award, given at a special lunch attended by then First Minister Ian Paisley. He was nominated for the Pride of Britain Awards and was awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Bravery Award by Prince Charles at Hillsborough Castle.

None of it stopped Peter being emotionally scarred by the incident and left in fear for his own safety and that of his wife Anne.

“The Stone incident was very hard to deal with emotionally and when I went back to work afterwards I started to get flashbacks,” he said.

 

“Some people, including MLAs, stopped talking to me altogether and making jibes at me. At the time I went to the Speaker of the house because it had left me very concerned for my security at home.

 

“A few days after the incident there was a knock on my door at 11pm at night. I reluctantly opened it to find a man claiming to be from the UDA telling me that Stone acted on his own and that I would be ok.

 

“He went off into the distance but my wife was terrified and wanted to move. We felt really alone.”

Fears over his safety and that of his wife were putting him under increasing strain, but he wasn’t prepared for the rejection and outward hostility from MLAs.

“After the incident one or two MLAs would say ‘sshhh’ to me and try to explain it was only a publicity stunt and that I should have let him in.

“I felt they all thought it was a joke and I could see them in the canteens with their guests pointing over at me and laughing.

“I felt like I was the clown in the circus.”

The combined effect was profound. “The attack changed me completely. From an outgoing person who enjoyed life to someone who looked ok on the outside but who was tearing up on the inside.

“My moods changed, I would hardly go out, always looking over my shoulder.”

peter, who is originally from Hull, made Belfast his home for more than 40 years after arriving as a young British soldier.

“I came to Northern Ireland in 1979. I was only 18 and very quickly we realised what we had stumbled into. Our first riot was on the Falls and boy did I not want to be there!

“After five hours of rioting we returned to base but during the night I heard shots being fired inside the building. We got ready to run out but the Corporal told us to stand down. 

“It turned out it was a couple of lads who shot themselves in the foot to get transferred back to England.”

Peter began working at Stormont in 2001 as a doorkeeper where he secured entry into Parliament Buildings, distribute visitor passes and checked visitors.

“I also had some highlights while working at Parliament Buildings from meeting all the new politicians to the big events such as Elton John, Rod Stewart and the Eagles all taking place in the grounds,” said Peter.

“It was an honour to be a part of George Best’s funeral and meet and greet his family as well as his friends, Manchester United managers and former players. I’ve met Bill Clinton, the Queen and Prince Philip.”

Now Peter and his wife Anne have retired to Portugal and he says they’ve never looked back. He added they are now “living our dream”.

'Erect' Collins likes to dress up as a Smurf in spare time

Part-time Smurf Andrew Collins turned the air blue after forcing his way into a woman’s house and exposing his genitals.

Collins, the self-confessed “smallest person in Enniskillen” was convicted last week after he was found guilty of the crime.

The female victim told Fermanagh Court that on November 22 last year she answered the door to her home and was confronted by vertically challenged Collins, who forced his way into her living room.

Recalling how she followed him the victim, who did not want to be named, said: “He was standing there with his trousers down and then sat down on her couch.

She said he told her: ‘Nobody has to know about it.’ 

“I told him to get out of my house, I was that freaked out about it, and he left.

“It made me feel really, really upset. He had pulled his trousers down and he was erect. It made me feel very vulnerable,” she added.

The distraught victim fled to her neighbour’s house yet was followed by 29-year-old Collins.

“I was raging and I went for him, I did, and I told him ‘don’t ever come near me again.’ He ran out and said he would get the police for me,” she added.

Collins went to the police and reported his victim for harassment yet when police approached the woman the full, sordid story was revealed.

Defence barrister Miss Phillips claimed Collins contacted the police as “he wanted to clear his name”.

The woman replied: “The man is lying. I know he is lying.”

Collins, who earns extra cash at weekends dressing up as a Smurf for hen and stag parties, told the court he only knew the woman to see and had never been in her house and only entered her neighbour’ home after he heard allegations against him.

He also claimed that he had been the subject of an assault after people began to believe the allegations.

He denied taking his trousers down and exposing his erect penis – “definitely not,” he insisted.

It was also revealed that during police interview that Collins claimed to have an alibi at the time of the incident however the named person refused to back his statement.

The prosecutor asked Collins what reason the woman had for attacking him.

“I don’t know,” he replied.

The prosecutor also pointed out that the woman had identified him.

“I’m not hard to identify,” replied Collins. “I’m the smallest person in Enniskillen.”

District Judge Nigel Broderick said it was an issue of credibility and the woman did not strike him as somebody who had come to court to tell lies.

“I believe that this did happen, that her account is accurate and that Collins “did take down his trousers and expose himself to the injured party”.

He will be sentenced on October 20, following the preparation of a probation report.

Newtowncunningham Orange Hall after last month's blaze

A Donegal Orange Hall has been burnt down just weeks after another Orange Hall in the county was destroyed in an arson attack.

The Orange Order's grand secretary Drew Nelson said the hall in Convoy was broken into at around 4am on Friday morning and was set alight.

He said the attack on the hall bore a resemblance to the recent arson attack on nearby Newtowncunningham Orange Hall last month.

Convoy Orange Hall, which was built in the 1930s, was used by the local community, said Mr Nelson.

He said: "We are very disturbed at what seems to be an emerging pattern.

 

"There is a small Protestant minority community in Donegal, and they are beginning to feel a bit besieged."

Sinn Fein's Liam Doherty, who lives locally, said: "It's hard to speculate, but it's looking like it was done maliciously.

"It's devastating for the whole community.

"It's not just an Orange hall. It's used by people from all walks of life."

Winston Irvine

UVF chief Winston ‘Winky’ Irvine is to be unmasked as a Special Branch agent.

The 39-year-old terror boss is also facing suspension from the Policing Board after he was arrested and questioned this week in connection with a punishment attack on Craig McCausland.

McCausland, later murdered by the UVF in July 2005, was shot in the legs during the attack in 2002 while still a teenager.

Woodvale UVF commander Irvine and another man were arrested and question in Antrim this week. They were later released and a file has been forwarded to the PPS. 

The Sunday World also understands the West Belfast terror boss is one of a number of prominent paramilitary leaders who will feature in a forthcoming Police Ombudsman report – others include overall UVF leader John ‘Bunter’ Graham and Shankill commanders Joe McGaw and ‘Harmless’ Harry Stockman.

The report, due to be published in the coming months, is the result of a near two year investigation into the activities of the terror group during a feud between the rival UVF and LVF in 2005, and is expected to uncover a nest of police agents operating at the highest level.

According to well placed sources the revelations will mirror details of wholesale police collusion in the UVF’s notorious Mount Vernon unit which was exposed by then Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan in 2007.

The forthcoming report will be regarded as highly significant as it will implicate high ranking paramilitary bosses including Irvine, who remains at the head of UVF ‘B’ Company in the Woodvale area.

Irvine has reinvented himself as a community worker earning in excess of £25,000 in public money. He also secured a seat on the Policing Board despite his paramilitary connections. 

Add to that his role as a member of the North and West Belfast Parades Forum and his prominent role as a frontline spokesman during the ongoing Twadell Avenue Orange parade dispute.

Balding Irvine, once famously pictured throwing a crate during serious street disturbances, likes to present himself as a respectable politician with the PUP – political wing of the UVF.

But it is his paramilitary past and his ongoing senior role within the UVF that is set to came to haunt him.

The Sunday World understands the Policing Board will be obliged to suspend him pending the outcome of the PPS deliberations on whether to press charges.

More damaging will be the revelations contained in the Ombudsman’s report. Dozens of statements have been gathered and it is believed Irvine is one of a number who have been clearly implicated as having worked for the police.

Major questions emerged surrounding the lack of arrests of UVF personnel during the UVF/LVF feud.

“There’s no hiding place for Winky, his police handlers can’t protect him any more,” a senior loyalist source told the Sunday World.

 

“We know from what happened in Mount Vernon that the UVF was allowed to operate with impunity and it will be same in west and north Belfast. 

 

“Winky’s unit was up to its neck in the feud.”

Irvine, who was a conviction for his part in an unseemly drunken brawl during a visit to the World War I cemeteries in France, was Commander of the UVF’s B Company when a then 20-year-old Craig McCausland was murdered.

It was at the height of the marching season in 2005 when members of the Woodvale unit burst through the door of the house he shared with his girlfriend and her two children, shooting him dead spattering the children with his blood. 

Craig, who lost his mother to a loyalist killer when he was a child, was also father to a two-year-old son.

No one has ever been convicted of the killing.

According to security sources the UVF’s feud with the LVF was ‘accommodated’ by the security forces.

There was significant pressure on the security services to take a tougher stance with the LVF -– notorious for sectarian murder – to remove them from the equation.

Founded by UVF outcast Billy Wright they were seen as a major obstacle to the developing peace process. 

“The UVF was given ‘informal’ approval to take on the LVF,” said our source. “The (British) government wanted the LVF out of the way, they weren’t fussy about who did it or how it was done.

“In other words the UVF had carte blanche to do what they wanted.”

Four people lost their lives in the bloodletting, all of whom were alleged to have had connections with the LVF – falsely in Craig McCausland’s case.

As a result of these attacks the LVF announced in October 2005 that its units had been ordered to cease their activity and that it was disbanding.

Throughout the feud the government resisted calls to declare the UVF ceasefire had been breached, despite four murders being attributed to the terror group. 

They later reversed that decision when loyalists opened fire on an army patrol.

Should Irvine be charged in connection with the Craig McCausland assault, it will be a major embarrassment for prominent unionist politicians and leading members of the Orange Order who have repeatedly shared public platforms with the UVF chief during the parades crisis.

It is an embarrassment that will be compounded with the publication of the Ombudsman’s report.

Sean McAvoy

Dopey Sean McAvoy is feeling the cold after mistaking a freezer for a toilet.

He was handed a six month jail sentence after he triggered the alarm at his local boozer BREAKING OUT of a freezer cabinet!

The 21-year-old was convicted of causing criminal damage to a fridge freezer in a local pub while attempting to escape its frosty confines.

The boozed up ice breaker claimed he became locked inside after mistaking the kitchen area as toilets and was forced to break his way out as oxygen in his icy cell began to run out.

He pleaded guilty to the charge of criminal damage – a charge of burglary was dropped when it emerged he didn’t trigger the alarm by breaking in but by breaking out!

 

McAvoy was trapped in Bank bar on Trevor Hill in Newry for hours before managing to escape.

Prosecution told Newry court this week the PSNI were called to the bar after the manager contacted them to report a possible burglary in process.

Police arrived at the scene and found a mobile phone belonging to McAvoy.

When approached by police at his home McAvoy said: “is it because of the Bank, I was locked in the fridge”.

During police interview he admitted to being “lost” and did not recall being in the bar earlier in the night.

He claimed he did not know where the bathroom was and had walked into the kitchen by mistake. He began to panic when he realised he had locked himself inside an industrial fridge freezer.

 An industrial fridge freezer

Defence counsel said his client had no intention of burglary; he was extremely intoxicated, it is only the charge of criminal damage that is appropriate,” he said.

District judge Eamonn king alluded to McAvoy’s lengthy criminal record from the age of 17-years-old, most of which for public disorder through alcohol.

“I have explained to him if he is going to have a career as a criminal, it is not a good idea, as he always gets caught, because of alcohol” said Mr King.

“I hope the three months in jail have given him time to reflect. We had one of the best summers ever over the last few months, the driest summer on record and you got to see it from your prison cell.

“When are you going to grow up..or are you just going to have a sad and pointless existence of alcohol and drugs. Will you continue to inflict yourself on the whole community..only you can answer that,” added the magistrate. 

McAvoy must also pay an offender's levy. 

He was barred from the Bank bar two years previous.

JTI Gallagher in Ballymena

Staff and politicians have been left shocked by the sudden announcement that JTI Gallagher tobacco factory in Ballymena will close.

The closure will see 877 workers at the factory lose their jobs.

On Tuesday staff were told that the factory was to close.

Full production was temporarily suspended after staff found out about the news on Tuesday.

The plant is responsible for pumping around £60m worth of wages into the local economy.

Reports from inside the factory on Tuesday described "shock and tears" as the news was broken.

Now union representatives from Gallagher's will meet with the Executive on Wednesday to discuss the closure of the factory.

Ian Paisley Jr, DUP MP for North Antrim, said: "I have been asked to attend an Executive meeting along with trade union representatives from Gallaher's to see if there's anything we can put in place to help them in terms of retraining, re-skilling and skill audits, but I don't think we'll ever see the like of this again.

 

"It is the end of an era."

In a joint statement, the Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minister said: "The news that JTI Gallaher staff have received is terrible news for many loyal workers, many of whom have given years of service to this firm over generations.

"For many years JTI Gallaher has been a major employer for Ballymena and has made a significant impact to the wider local economy.

"We will make every effort to mitigate the impact of the job losses and we welcome any opportunity to meet with locally elected representatives to identify what options are available to those affected.

"The Executive will work closely with both the Enterprise and Employment and Learning Ministers to ensure all possible avenues are explored."

Andy Frain marching in Belfast this year

Andy Frain

One of Britain’s most notorious football hooligans has joined a loyalist flute band in east Belfast, we can reveal.

Chelsea Headhunter, and far right fanatic, Andy ‘The Nightmare’ Frain is an ‘honorary’ member of the Tullycarnet Flute Band in east Belfast.

The 50-year-old, who was famously exposed by the Sunday World’s Donal McIntyre during an undercover BBC film, took part in a loyalist march in London on Saturday.

Our picture shows Frain posing with other loyalists after the ‘Lord Carson Memorial parade’.

The annual parade celebrates UVF founder Edward Carson and the Great war.

Frain was also pictured in Belfast on the Twelfth of July marching with the Tullycarnet Flute Band.

He made his trip to Belfast just a few months after being released from yet another spell in jail for football related violence.

As reported in the Sunday World last year Frain was sentenced to two years for orchestrating a massive bloody battle in Glasgow Central Station in which one man had his ear bitten off.

Frain was part of a loyalist mob consisting of Rangers and Chelsea hooligans which had organised by mobile phone a confrontation with a Hibernian hooligan firm who call themselves the Capital City Service mob.

He was sentenced to two years in jail but only served a fraction of that and was released earlier this year.

Loyalist sources say Frain, who has links to Combat 18 and the English Defence League, is a regular visitor to Belfast.

“He comes over quite a lot and gets treated like royalty,” said one source.

 

“He’s a celebrity hooligan and the loyalists love it because he’s been involved in all kinds of fights. 

 

“He got to know the boys in Tullycarnet through Rangers. His Chelsea firm often team up with the Rangers Inter-City firm whenever there’s something big being organised.

 

“Frain is always saying he’d love to get involved in a fight with some republicans in Belfast.”

Frain posted pictures of himself marching up the Newtownards Road in July and is also seen posing with machine guns and UDA flags.

The brutal racist, who once unwittingly boasted of slashing the throat of an off-duty policeman while BBC covert cameras were recording his every move, led a group of 70 hooligans in a violent riot in front of children and their families in Glasgow in 2012.

Frain was jailed for orchestrating the riot through text messages between Rangers, Chelsea and Hibernian thugs. 

Sixteen others got sentences totalling 41 years. Despite Frain claiming on facebook that he hoped his most recent stint in jail would be his last – he has continued trying to organise fights with other hooligans via the social networking site.

Andy Collins as a Smurf

Tiny terror Andrew Collins has sparked fury in Fermanagh over Facebook claims he was set up on an exposure charge.

Collins, who calls himself the “smallest person in Enniskillen”, is due to be sentenced later this month for pushing his way into a woman’s home in the town and exposing himself.

His female victim was left distraught by the incident and friends say she felt suicidal.

A district judge rejected his claims that the incident never happened and convicted him of the offence.

But within hours of leaving court, Collins had blamed his victim for the conviction and made shocking claims that she had been paid to testify against him.

In a Facebook rant he claimed: “There’s 2 sides to every story. People pay a woman to go to police and make up lies to paper to cover themselves up. I could name and shame a few people but that’s not me.”

The tirade caused outrage in the town, where 29-year-old Collins, who dresses as a Smurf for stag and hen parties, is well known.

His victim told the court she had felt vulnerable after the incident, which took place in November 2013. 

She described how he had pushed past her and sat down in her living room before exposing himself. 

“It made me feel really upset. He had pulled his trousers down and he was erect,” she told Collins’s trial.

When she fled to a neighbour’s house the flasher followed her, where his victim confronted him and told him to stay away from her.

 Andy Collins

Bizarrely he then went to police to complain he’d been harassed.

The neighbour who helped his victim told the Sunday World: “I’m not a liar and neither is my friend. This is Andrew Collins making things up. How dare he go into someone’s home and expose himself and then call her a liar.

“He phoned the police before his victim did because he knew what he did was wrong and he wanted to get his speak in first,” said the witness, who asked not to be identified.

She said the incident had left her friend feeling suicidal.

“She came into me and gave me her watch and told me to keep it. It was only after she left that I thought she was going to harm herself. She had to spend time in hospital afterwards.”
The angry neighbour said Collins’s allegations that she or her friend were paid to make up details of the incident were ludicrous.

“It’s disgraceful he can say these things about people when he was the one who was found guilty in court.”

Collins will be sentenced on October 20

Abortions should be permitted in Northern Ireland in cases where the foetus has a lethal abnormality, the Department of Justice has said.

The controversial proposal to alter the region's strict abortion laws would allow women whose baby has no chance of survival outside the womb to terminate the pregnancy early.

If passed, it would mark the first change to abortion legislation in more than a century.

Justice Minister David Ford said: "I believe we owe it to people who have highlighted the case in the media and others who have suffered in silence that we address those issues which have caused significant concern."

Northern Ireland is not covered by the 1967 Abortion Act and every year more than 1,000 women travel to clinics in England, Scotland and Wales where access to an abortion is allowed up to 24 weeks into pregnancy on grounds that include abnormalities which could lead to a child being seriously disabled.

The issue gained prominence last October when Sarah Ewart went public about how she was forced to travel to London for a termination after her baby was diagnosed with anencephaly, a severe brain anomaly which meant the skull had not developed properly.

Another woman, known only as Laura, who was 22 weeks pregnant with twins suffering from the same fatal condition, also spoke out about being told she would have to fly to England for an abortion.

Mr Ford added: "It is clear there are very few people in Northern Ireland and very few people in the Assembly who would wish to see the full introduction of the 1967 (Abortion) Act.

"But, I do think when we look at the difficult issues of lethal foetal abnormality that there are people with compassion for women carrying foetuses in such circumstances that may well mean there is a small area that merits consideration for change."

Abortions are only permitted in Northern Ireland in certain circumstances including when the life of the mother is in grave danger.

Under the current law (1861 Offences Against the Person Act) it is a criminal offence for a woman to have an unlawful abortion, or for any other person to carry out an unlawful abortion.

The DoJ has recommended that women be given the choice of terminating a pregnancy if two doctors agreed that the foetus had no prospect of life after delivery. 

This would enable a woman to decide at the point when such a judgement is made, usually at the 20 week scan.

The DoJ consultation paper, which has been produced with the assistance of medics, is strictly focused on two aspects of the criminal law on abortion.

It does not address the regulation of private clinics such as Marie Stopes, which offer abortion services or guidelines for doctors and nurses which fall under the remit of the Department of Health.

Members of the public are also being asked to consider whether abortion should be legal in cases of sexual crime such as rape or incest.

Any legislative changes have to be rubber-stamped by the Stormont Executive and go before the Assembly for final approval where the controversial petition of concern could be used as a veto.

The public consultation on abortion legislation will close next January.

Four people have been hurt in a three vehicle collision in North Belfast.

The crash happened on Thursday morning on the Upper Hightown Road just after 8am.

Two men and two women were taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital 

The Ambulance Service has said none of the injuries are life-threatening. 

Three Fire Service vehicles attended the scene of the incident.

A PSNI spokesperson said: "At this stage, it is believed that four people were involved in the incident, but there are no further details as to the extent of their injuries."

George Wilson and his mother Eileen (Pics by Conor McCaughley)

George Wilson (Pics Conor McCaughley)

Dissident terrorists have threatened the life of this teenage boxing champ.

Oglaigh na hEireann have vowed to take action against West Belfast schoolboy George Wilson after accusing him of throwing a brick at the home of a senior Turflodge member.

Since then the youngster’s life has been made a living hell by the criminal thugs who laughingly claim to be republican freedom fighters.

While George’s parents admit their son has broken the law on occasion, he has admitted to criminal damage by attempting to break into a car, they insist it is up to the PSNI and the Courts to mete out punishment.

“I am not going to sit here and say he is an angel because he is not and he has done some stupid things but it is the responsibility of me as his mother and the courts to decide what to do with him,” Eileen Wilson told the Sunday World.

 

“My son is a child, he is 14 years of age and he is being threatened by scum like that. It makes me sick, they make me sick, they have no right to touch a single hair on his head, to lay a single finger on him” the mum of six said.

George was targeted after he was accused of attacking the home of a prominent member who claimed to have CCTV footage of the attack. He demanded £2,800 from his parents to pay for the ‘damage’.

Determined to prove his innocence in this case George bravely approached the ONH member to deny the accusations. However when confronted at his home the man refused to produce the footage and later fingered two other teens as those responsible.

“I got a telephone call from my sister saying that George was at the man’s house so I jumped into the car to go and get him. God love him he went to the bloke’s house by himself to tell him he was not responsible, the next thing is two others were accused.

 

“My son was not responsible for that incident but his life has been made a living hell ever since. Like I said my son has broken the law, he has admitted to that, he tried to break into a car and he will face his punishment. 

 

“If the courts decide he should be jailed then he will serve his time but it has nothing to do with any dissidents. My son is nothing to do with them.

 

“My son is a good kid who has done wrong and I am not happy about that but he is hardly public enemy number one, he is a child. The joke is that there are others out there who are a thousand times worse, people dealing heroin and the dissidents let them get away with it. The biggest joke is that those who are threatening my son are criminals themselves,” she fumed.

The PSNI have visited George’s devastated parents on two occasions warning them that their son’s safety is in danger.

Eileen has lost two stone since the nightmare began seven months ago. She admits to being unable to cope with the stress of a gang beating her son within an inch of his life.

“That’s all I can think about. I can’t cope letting him out of my sight, I am sick with worry. I can’t sleep and can’t eat. I keep the window open at all times so I can hear if anyone approaches the house. The whole family is suffering because of those scumbags.

“I am terrified all the time that they will get him and do God knows what. That’s why I want him with me all the time and that’s not fair on him,” she revealed, hands visibly shaking.

George who is a Co. Antrim and Ulster boxing champ spoke of his fear and the intimidation he has experienced at the hands of the terrorists.

“They gather outside when I am at my friend’s house, looking the in window and that and they stand waiting on me. I have been stopped and searched and one of them told me to tell one of my friends they were going to the grave,” George said last night.

 “It’s scary, that’s why I wrecked a bike outside the police station last week. I thought they would have arrested me and that I would have to go to jail. I think I would be safer in a young offenders centre, they wouldn’t be able to get me there .

“Yes I am afraid of what they will do to me, I am afraid that if I walk around the corner they will be there. I just want them to leave me alone, I just want to get on with my life, get back into boxing and everything else,” he revealed.

The Sunday World is aware of the identity of the Turflodge dissident however are prevented from naming him, at this stage, for legal reasons.

Megahan O'Neill

Kevin O'Neill with sisters Christina and MegHan

Megahan O'Neill

Stunning glamour puss MegHan O’Neill has turned tragedy into triumph in the memory of her dead brother.

The 22-year-old was training to become a car mechanic when her brother Kevin was stabbed to death in Ballycastle last year.

Since then the petite stunner has swapped grease for glamour by becoming one of Ulster’s up and coming models.

“Kevin’s death made me realise how short life can be, that’s why I have decided to grab life with both hands and do things I normally wouldn’t have done,” MegHan O’Neill told Sunday World.

“I am living outside my comfort zone and that is all because of what happened to my brother.

 

“I miss my brother every single day but I am not going to let the grief ruin my life. I wouldn’t give his killer the satisfaction. 

 

“The best thing I can do is to live my life the best I can and do all the things I used to dream about but never had the nerve to do,” she said.

Last week Nigel Thomas Martin McGothigan was sentenced to five years in jail after admitting to Kevin O’Neill’s manslaughter.

He stabbed the 25-year-old after getting involved in a row in April last year.

“Losing someone is hard at the best of times but when you know that someone killed them, that he died by somebody’s hand, it just makes it so much more unbearable and harder to accept,” said MegHan. 

“My brother didn’t die because of some freak accident he died because someone hurt him.

“It’s hard for everyone but it is worse for my parents, they lost a child, they lost their son and I don’t think there could be anything worse,” she said.

Kevin had been fighting a battle with drink and drugs since he was 15 yet one year before his death he turned his life around.

“We did everything we could to help him, we took him to doctors to councillors but nothing worked. In the end it he did it himself and he turned his life around. 

“He wasn’t a bad or evil person, he was kind and caring but when he was taking drugs he had so many demons inside him and it was only one year before he died that the demons released him.

“Kevin had just started living his life, he was happy and in a new relationship and he was rebuilding his relationship with us. 

“We never turned our back on him but we wouldn’t see him for weeks on end when he was on the drugs. My poor parents spent years waiting for the knock on the door to say something had happened to him – the sad thing was something did happen but after he had turned a corner, rebuilt his life.

“He was making up for all those missing years, he had so many plans and someone took that away from him. 

“His death made me realise how precious life is and the fact you only get one chance and that can be taken from you at any minute. 

“That is why I am living my life as if every second counts and I am really enjoying it,” Meghan said.

After Kevin’s death MegHan dropped out of her car mechanics course and took up glamour modelling. She has never looked back.

“I always wanted to be a glamour model and after Kevin died I thought why not just go for it? It was completely out of my comfort area but I loved every single minute of it, it was so much fun. 

 

“Kevin wouldn’t have approved though he would have told me to put my clothes back on,” she laughed.

While the Ballycastle babe has posed for some very raunchy shots she refuses to go topless.

“I have nothing to go topless with so what would be the point, I was not blessed in that department,” she joked.

MegHan’s dream is to become a fitness model. She wants to get her body into peak condition within the next year and cash in on her toned abs and legs.

“That is what I really want to do,” she said. “Glamour modelling is great fun but fitness modelling is where I want to see my career going. 

“I am training now and trying to put on weight, I am training four times a week with weights and eating six times a day. it’s tough but it keeps me strong and that is how I cope with losing my brother.

“I am still coming to terms with how he died; he had a row and someone lifted a knife and killed him. You can never come to terms with that,” she added.

Cannabis growing under specially designed lamps

Mount Stewart

Stately Mount Stewart is to receive some new horticultural equipment from an unlikely source - the drugs trade!

For cannabis growing equipment seized by the PSNI has been donated to the home and gardens in order to aid plant cultivation.

The PSNI in Comber's Neigbourhood Police team have donated the equipment that has previously been seized from cannabis factories to the National Trust tourist attraction.

Equipment used to grow cannabis is normally destroyed after it is seized.

However, the PSNI in the area now think the gear could be used to give back to the community.

 Constable Russ Wilson of the PSNI said: "Over recent times, we have collected a great deal of equipment which would normally be destroyed but I decided to find out if it could be used elsewhere.

 

"I made contact with a number of organisations, including the National Trust, who were delighted to hear about the equipment and were keen to make some use of it.

 

"Drugs can have a devastating impact on local communities, but I think the fact we can do something positive on the back of it is great.

 

"I know that buying equipment like this can be very costly - particularly for charities - and I am delighted that organisations like the National Trust, which is a conservation charity, can make such good use of the items."

Garden manager of Mount Stewart, Paul Stewart, said he was more than happy to accept the equipment.

"Our gardens are one of our biggest tourist attractions but the upkeep of them is very expensive and we rely entirely on donations for maintenance and development,"  he said.

"It is great that the PSNI have taken such an imaginative approach to the disposal of this equipment.

"It has helped put something back into the community and we are delighted to benefit."

Margaret Evans

Alun Kinney Evans, son of Portstewart murder victim Margaret Evans, has appeared in court charged with her murder.

The 32-year-old appeared at Coleraine Magistrates Court on Friday, where he faces another charge of possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply. 

Margaret Evans, 69, died at her home at Knockancor Drive on June 4, having suffered fatal injuries.

Mr Evans was released on bail on Friday.

His bail conditions mean that he must stay at a healthcare clinic and abide by a mental health order.

Mr Evans has been staying at a secure mental health centre at Knockbracken since his arrest on the day of Margaret Evans' murder. 

John Paul Wootton

The minimum jail term for dissident republican John Paul Wootton in connection with the murder of Constable Stephen Carroll has been increased.

At a hearing at the Court of Appeal, senior judges ruled that due to aggravating factors in his still undefined role in the murder, his tariff will be increased by four years.

They said that Wootton's cohort, Brendan McConville, will not have his sentence changed.

Barra McGrory, Director of Public Prosecutions said both men had received unduly lenient terms.

Constable Stephen Carroll was murdered in March 2009 when he was ambushed while responding to an emergency call in Craigavon.

Wootton, from Lurgan, was 17 at the time of the murder.

At the hearing, Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan said: "The mitigation for youth in the case of a person who was approximately two months short of his 18th birthday at the time of the commission of a serious violent offence of this nature is limited.

"We have taken into account the effect of double jeopardy arising from his exposure to this reference and in the circumstances we substitute a tariff of 18 years."

An 18-year-old pedestrian has died following a car crash on the Malone Road in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

A 19-year-old male has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and driving while unfit through drink or drugs.

The incident happened at around 2.25am near the Elms student village.

Another man in his 20s was also injured in the incident.

He is currently being treated in hospital for injuries which are not thought to be life threatening.Police have appealed for any witnesses or anyone with information to contact them.

Holywood golf superstar Rory McIlroy has been the victim of Twitter trolls after he sent a tweet celebrating Northern Ireland's 2-0 victory over Greece in the European qualifiers.

Golf's number one star sent a simple celebratory message, tagging the IFA, to congratulate the Northern Irish team after their stunning victory in Greece.

However, not all of the Twitterati took kindly to his message.

Some even questioned his support for Northern Ireland given his recent decision to represent Ireland in the Olympics.

But in true Rory McIlroy style, the 25-year-old remained classy, tweeting his congratulations to the Republic as well, given their heroic draw with world champions Germany.

After Northern Ireland's win on Tuesday night, Rory tweeted: 

What a result for @OfficialIrishFA in Greece!! #GAWA #norniron

— Rory Mcilroy (@McIlroyRory) October 14, 2014

A barrage of abuse soon followed, with one troll claiming McIlroy "Lacks maturity" in his decision to support his national team.

But the champ responded in true form, simply saying:

Other Twitter users also jumped on the bandwagon to have a bash at Rory, using foul language in order to make their view heard - apart from user 'Kendrick' who was simply pointing out that Greece aren't very good. 

Conal Daly

The teen killed in a road crash on the Sainfield Road on Thursday night has been named as 18-year-old Conal Daly from West Belfast.

He was one of three men who were in a silver Jaguar which collided with a Volkswagen Polo which was being driven by a nun.

The nun, who is described as stable, is from the Sisters of Mercy order. Two other nuns from the same order were tragically killed just weeks ago on the Belfast Road outside Newry.

 

Sister Marie Duddy and Sister Frances Forde were killed in the September 30 crash in which three policemen suffered minor injuries. 

It has been reported that the police were in pursuit of one of the vehicles on Thursday evening when the crash happened at around 8.40pm.

The death toll on Northern Ireland's roads this year stands at 65.

A spokesperson for the Police Ombudsman's Office said: "We would be keen to speak to anyone who saw the collision or the pursuit leading up to it.

"We understand the pursuit began close to the roundabout at the junction of the Ravenhill Road and Ormeau Road in Belfast."

Scene of crash

A rally driver who died after a horror smash at a rally in Castlewellan, Co Down has been named as Ryan Bradley.

The horror crash happened yesterday lunchtime near Castlewellan Co Down.

The mark 2 Ford Escort was taking part in the Down Rally and ended up entering a reservoir between Castlewellan and Kilcoo.

Police divers recovered Mr Bradley's body. He was in his 20s and a member of Magherafelt and District Motor Club.

His co-driver Gerard Mullan managed to escape the stricken vehicle and raised the alarm before he was taken to Daisy Hill Hospital although his injuries are not thought to be serious.

The organisers of Down Rally, Rathfriland Motor Club, later confirmed that a competitor had lost his life in the accident.

"The thoughts of Rathfriland Motor Club, and everyone involved with the event are with the family and friends of the deceased at this time," it said in a statement on its website.

"As with all incidents of this nature, an investigation is now being carried out by the PSNI and appropriate local authority.

"Rathfriland Motor Club together with the sport's governing body, the Motor Sports Association (MSA), are co-operating fully with the investigation."

Local Stormont Assemblyman Mr. Dallat said: “The community here are stunned.

“They are finding it very hard to come to terms with this tragic news."