Man jailed for loyalist feud attack has appeal rejected

A MAN jailed for a loyalist feud attack allegedly plotted by police agents failed yesterday in a legal bid to have his convictions quashed.

John Patterson Hill claimed he was entrapped into joining an Ulster Volunteer Force gang who smashed up and set fire to the Golden Hind pub in Portadown 23 years ago.

But judges at the Court of Appeal dismissed a challenge centred on the suspected leading roles played by notorious ex-paramilitary bosses Mark Haddock and Gary Haggarty.

Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan also rejected submissions that Hill should not have been prosecuted because Special Branch informants were involved.

He said: “The submissions would change the culture of impunity, if established, into a getout-of-jail-free card for all.

“We consider that such an outcome would inevitably undermine public confidence in the criminal justice system and bring it into disrepute.”

Hill, a 49-year-old from north Belfast, received a three-year sentence after pleading guilty to arson, possession of firearms with intent, criminal damage and intimidation.

He was prosecuted for his part in the attack on the Golden Hind in August 1997, during a vicious feud between the UVF and rival Loyalist Volunteer Force.

Up to 30 men entered the bar — viewed as an LVF stronghold at the time — and wrecked the interior before setting it alight.

Hill’s legal representatives believe UVF commander-turned-supergrass Haggarty was working as a state informant when the Golden Hind was targeted.

In 2018, Haggarty (48) confessed to hundreds of paramilitary offences, including five murders, five attempted murders, 23 counts of conspiracy to murder, having firearms and explosives, punishment beatings and directing terrorism.

He pleaded guilty as part of a controversial state deal which offered a reduced sentence in return for providing evidence on other loyalist crime. Haggarty has since been released.

The appeal also focused on the alleged activities of Haddock, another ex-leader of the same terror unit which operated out of the Mount Vernon estate in north Belfast. He has been connected to former police ombudsman Nuala O’loan’s findings in 2007 of collusion between some Special Branch officers and that loyalist gang.

The watchdog linked a covert human intelligence source — identified only in the case as ‘Informant 1’ — to 10 murders.

In 2014, Haddock (52) was jailed for 12 years at Woolwich Crown Court for a knife attack on a friend.

Lawyers for Hill contended the prosecution should have fully disclosed the role of any agents in directing the pub attack.

An agent instructing ordinary UVF gang members to take part in an attack amounts to entrapment, counsel argued. However, Sir Declan held that Hill knew the background of those he was associating with in a crime “instigated by non-state actors”.

The Chief Justice stressed: “This was plainly a case where the appellant was provided with an unexceptional opportunity to commit a crime, which he duly accepted.”

He also identified no police inducement or any manipulation of Hill, describing the alleged abuse of process as being “without substance”.

Sir Declan confirmed: “For the reasons given the conviction is not unsafe. The appeal is dismissed.”

❝ The appellant was provided an opportunity to commit a crime, which he duly accepted