Full story of brutal killings may never be known

By Barry McCaffrey
04/04/09

The full story of the brutal murders of Andrew Robb and David McIlwaine on a lonely country road nine years ago may never be known, despite Steven Brown being sent to prison for at least 30 years.

Mr McIlwaine’s father Paul McIlwaine last night welcomed the fact that his son’s killer will not be eligible for release until he is almost 60 years old.

But Mr McIlwaine snr, who described Brown as a “pebble in an ocean”, believes that at least one other person involved in the murder was protected because he is a police informer.

Brown, who at the time was known as Steven Revels, was first charged with the teen- agers’ murders in 2000 alongside mid-Ulster loyalists Mark Burcombe and Noel Dillon.

However, within months the charges were unexpectedly dropped despite the victims’ families saying they were told there was ample evidence to bring the killers to justice.

In 2005 the charges were resurrected when Burcombe, who is understood to have undergone a religious conversion, walked into a police station and confessed his role.

Dillon died in 2005 after apparently taking his own life.

In February last year the joint trial of Burcombe and Brown was dramatically hal- ted when it emerged that murder charges against Burcombe were to be dropped in exchange for him agreeing to give evidence against his

co-accused.

Burcombe later pleaded guilty to reduced charges of greivous bodily harm and was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.

However, he had already served the equivalent sentence while on remand. He was spirited out of Northern Ireland and is now living on a witness-protection scheme.

It was the first time that a ‘supergrass’ had been used in a Northern Ireland court in 25 years. The reintroduction of the controversial system has caused concern among victims’ families.

“I understand fully his evidence was used and was compelling as to the actions of Revels and Dillon but his own role in the murders is yet to be explored,” Mr McIlwaine

snr said.

“I don’t believe for one minute he told the complete truth and it’s an issue that will be taken up as soon as

possible.”

Loyalist sources last night confirmed Burcombe’s role as a senior figure in the mid-Ulster UVF.

He is understood to have personally driven Brown to Belfast to be sworn into the paramilitary group in 1999.

Paul McIlwaine’s campaign to bring his son’s killers to justice has also uncovered evidence that another loyalist implicated in the murders was paid £500,000 for building work on security force bases over a three-year period after the killings.

Andrew Robb and David McIlwaine had been murdered by the UVF in retaliation for the LVF killing of UVF Portadown leader Richard Jameson weeks earlier.

Despite Jameson’s well-known links to the UVF, police admitted in September 2007 that £320,000 had been paid to his building firm and to another Co Armagh contractor for work carried out on various police stations over a six-year period.

In November last year Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde publicly apologised to the families, admitting that almost

£5 million had actually been paid to the two firms.

He pledged to investigate how Jameson’s firm had won security-force building contracts, despite twice failing police vetting procedures.

It is understood that a third vetting process also resulted in rejection but was overturned on appeal by the Northern Ireland Office.

Last month Sir Hugh admitted that a total of £11 million had in fact been paid to the two Co Armagh building firms.

It is known that nearly £500,000 of this was paid to the second contractor, who cannot be named for legal reasons, despite him having been a key suspect in the teenagers’ murder.

Questioned as to how two builders with alleged links to the UVF could have received millions of pounds in government contracts, the chief constable said: “We have con- tracts with many builders, many who may have history, evidence or intelligence or whatever.

“If they get through the system I have no option but to employ them. If they are on the [NIO-approved] list it is a decision around value for money.

“If the [policing] board want to instruct me not to use A, B or C then that is fine – but I suggest that the board would need legal advice and I do think extreme care needs to be taken as to what is said in public.”