First supergrass in two decades to give evidence
From the 24 May 2008 edition of the Belfast Telegraph. Article by Chris Thornton and Victor Gordon:
Shorter sentence deal for tout who admitted role in double killing
Saturday, May 24, 2008
This is the face of Northern Ireland’s first murder trial supergrass for two decades.
Mark Burcombe (27) is due to be sentenced next month after admitting a role in the horrific cut-throat murders of Andrew Robb and David McIlwaine.
He is then expected to testify against a man accused of playing a leading role in the attacks on the Portadown teenagers in February 2000.
Cricket-loving Burcombe (27) from Ballynahinch Road, Lisburn, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm to the 18-year-olds. He made the plea after reaching a deal with prosecutors that could see him receive a reduced sentence and escape a murder charge.
The supergrass trials of the 1980s saw scores of terror suspects jailed but the Court of Appeal later threw out their evidence.
Ever since the system collapsed prosecutors have been reluctant to use the evidence of one accused person against another in the Northern Ireland courts.
However, the law was changed in 2005 to make it easier for defendants to turn Queen’s evidence in exchange for lighter sentences. It was first used last year, when two informers testified that a number of loyalists were drug dealers.
Burcombe is believe to be the first to give evidence against a co-accused in Northern Ireland under the new legislation.
Andrew Robb and David McIlwaine were accidentally caught up in a loyalist feud, abducted and stabbed repeatedly at a remote roadside near the village of Tandragee, Co Armagh.
The families of the two victims have objected to the deal for Burcombe, claiming his evidence will not strengthen the case against Steven Brown, also known as Steven Revels, also 27, from Castle Place in Castlecaulfield.
They are considering a judicial review of the decision to accept him as a witness. Andrew’s mother Ann and David’s father Paul recently met a representative of the Prosecution Service to tell them of their unhappiness.
“I am totally disgusted,” Mrs Robb said. “The truth of the matter is that Burcombe is telling the police nothing new against his co-accused Steven Brown.
“I was originally told there were eight to 11 men at the murder scene and the understanding was that Burcombe would give evidence against them all.
“But the fact is that he is only giving evidence against Brown and he’s telling the police nothing they don’t already know.
“He’s telling them a fraction of what happened and there is a disgusting deal to have his charges reduced and he is to be sentenced accordingly. I’m gutted.
“I am hoping my request for a judicial review will be granted and the murder charges will be reinstated concerned this bloody murder, for that’s what it is.
“I simply want justice to be done and this isn’t justice by any stretch of the imagination. My son was cut to pieces. It was murder, nothing short of it.”
Mr McIlwaine said he is “quite angry” about the deal.
“When Burcombe first gave himself up, at the time I thought it was a good thing that somebody was coming forward and telling the truth in the case,” he said.
“But what’s happening now is absolute madness. He took police to where the weapons were supposed to be and then couldn’t remember where they were.
“They shouldn’t be using him.”
