agent of the state as described by his uvf comrades.

In attendance at the funeral
was Sinton’s girlfriend of more than a
decade Wendy Whittle.
Wendy Whittle gave Sinton an alibi
for the night of the horrific Tandragee
murders.
“It was very low key given who Sinton
had been in the UVF,” said a source.
“He hadn’t many friends in the UVF
in Mid-Ulster but he was still well
thought of with east Belfast UVF
although none of them turned up.”
FriendsOne death notice placed in the
Belfast Telelgraph read: “Deeply
regretted by Jim Lowry and all your
friends from the Cosy Bar, east Belfast.
The Lord is my Shepherd.”
One of those who bravely mingled
among the mourners was Paul McIlwaine,
the still grieving father of David
McIlwaine who was butchered to death
along with his friend Andrew Robb on the
orders of Sinton nearly a decade ago.
The teenagers were knifed to death,
had their throats slit and their bodies
dumped on a lonely country road out-
side Tandragee in February 2000.
“I didn’t go to his funeral to pay my
respects or to mourn his loss in any way,”
Mr McIlwaine told the Sunday World.
“I went there to see who would turn
up at his funeral. There was probably
between 50 and 70 people at it.
As the mourners headed
into the local church,
around 20 men headed
into a local shop for some
afternoon refreshments.
“I joined the queue in the
shop,” Mr McIlwaine said.
“Nobody said anything
to me but I did get a
few funny looks but I didn’t care.
I spent about two hours in Tandragee
that day and nobody said a word to
me.”
Steven Revels is currently serving
life for the brutal double murders with a
tariff of 30 years before he is eligible for
parole. His appeal against his conviction
and sentence will be heard this April.
Bizarrely, Burly John Sinton was nev-
er arrested or questioned by the RUC
or the PSNI even though he was the
UVF commander for Tandragee at the
time of the
killings.
He told police that 70
people would confirm
he was in Ballyshee
Orange Hall near
Tandragee on the
night murders and
didn’t leave until
between 5am and
5.30am.
However, when
the families of
Andrew Robb
and David
McIl w aine
received the
police papers,
only FIVE peo-
ple could put
him in the
hall, includ-
ing his mis-
tress Wendy
Whittle.
As Mr
McIl w aine
told us: “I am
no detective
but that does-
n’t sound like
a water tight
alibi to me.”
Eyewitnesses
also told police
that Sinton had
been seen in the pres-
ence of Andrew Robb and
David McIlwaine before
they were killed.
In a follow up search after the horrif-
ic murders, an RUC team found a New
York Yankee baseball cap at Moody
Road.
BelongedAdded Mr McIlwaine: “It is my
understanding that the cap belonged
to Sinton who bought it in America
and is not available in the U”K.
He is convinced Sinton was never
arrested because he was working for
Special Branch as an informant.
“Nobody has ever able to explain to
me how a known UVF man like John
Sinton was given security clearance
work in so many police stations,
including Gough Barracks, and his
company Ballymore Builders earn
£500,000 from these contracts.
“And nobody has ever been able to
explain how, as the UVF commander
in Tandragee, he was able to get a
legally held firearm.”
Meanwhile, police this week
smashed in the door of the former
home of Noel Dillon in Tandragee.
It followed complaints that Dillon’s
home at Montagu Street had been
flooded since the recent freezing tem-
peratures.
The house has remained boarded up
for the past five years since Dillon
committed suicide in 2005.
At the time of Noel Dillon’s death,
the property was owned by builder
John Sinton.
He was once married to dillons sis-
ter Amanda and her sister Alexia was
going out with Steven Revels at the
time of the murders in 2000.
Leaders shun
funeral of man
who ordered
teens’ killings

Thursday, 4 February 2010

David McIlwaine

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Police effectively forced the uncle of a teenage murder victim to identify the badly mutilated body against his will, the High Court has heard.

Alan Steele also claimed officers did not care because they wrongly believed his dead nephew, David McIlwaine, was a member of the Loyalist Volunteer Force.

Mr Steele made the allegations as part of his negligence case against the Chief Constable for psychological injuries he says were inflicted by the identification process.

His 18-year-old nephew was stabbed to death along with Andrew Robb (19) in February 2000. Their bodies were dumped by a road near Tandragee, Co Armagh.

The double killing came weeks after alleged Ulster Volunteer Force leader Richard Jameson was shot dead in nearby Portadown.

Giving evidence in his claim for damages, Mr Steele said a police sergeant had asked him to identify Mr McIlwaine because his parents could not be contacted.

It was stressed in court how Mr McIlwaine had no paramilitary or criminal connections.

Mr Steele, who told of suffering post-traumatic stress disorder, said he was still hoping the victim’s father Paul would arrive by the time he got to the mortuary.

He claimed a senior detective approached him and repeated a warning about how the parents would find out if he did not go through with the process.

“I said to him this was wrong; I shouldn’t be doing this, Paul should be doing this.

“I felt that I was stealing from Paul,” Mr Steele told the court.

“I asked him to wait for Paul. He just walked away from me.

“I was crying, I was shaking.”

Questioned by his barrister, Ronnie Bentley QC, Mr Steele alleged he was not told about the injuries inflicted on the victims.

Clearly emotional in the witness box, he recalled: “He was stabbed about the head. The head was covered in blood.

“They had cut off part of his face and I could see into his skull.

“Because he had lost so much blood it was like a skeleton.”

During cross-examination by David Ringland QC, for the Chief Constable, he denied being “obsessed” by a search for justice since the murder.

But Mr Ringland pointed to expert medical opinion which he said suggested “bitterness and seething anger” connected to Mr Steele’s belief in a police cover-up.

Mr Ringland insisted that the senior detective’s evidence would be that at the stage of identifying the bodies no paramilitary connection had been established.

Pressing further, the barrister claimed that Mr Steele had in fact volunteered to identify the teen’s body.

Mr Ringland, who also insisted the injuries were made clear to Mr Steele in advance, added: “What you have said is that you were really forced to go to the morgue.

“I have to put it to you that quite the opposite situation prevailed when you were approached.”

According to a senior mortuary technician sheets of paper were also covering the most severely part of the victims face, Mr Ringland added.

But Mr Steele insisted: “That’s an absolute lie.”

The hearing was adjourned until tomorrow.

Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/police-lsquoforcedrsquo-man-to-identify-mutilated-body-of-murdered-nephew-court-told-14665633.html#ixzz0fhVTGAlp

Politicians will also need to sit up and take notice,I dread to think how many i have spoken to over the years most of which have offered little help and in some cases blatantly done nothing. The old saying is that ” the worst thing for the good to do is to do nothing” that covers the good ,then we have the downright useless and bordering on disgraceful who promised the earth knowing fine well they had no intentions of fulfilling them ,I Would have said honouring but these politicians have no honour. It seems i find myself in a position almost in isolation as I cant get help from unionists because they wont support anyone who speaks out against the police and it has been noticeable the lack of interest from sinn feinever since Hughe  Orde let it slip on the 22/06/09 that a firm with links to republican terrorists is receiving government contracts to work on P.S.N.I. bases. I had a meeting before Christmas with Jim Allister thinking that he would be outraged and that he would address this with vigor, when I arrived at his office he had a journalist and photographer from the Irish News waiting for the story but when I started talking about terrorists and contracts  and stated that not only was it a former republican getting contracts but a loyalist family from Portadown also he seemed to turn off his interest,I am still waiting for a reply!

Basil Mccrea is dealing with this issue at the moment after forgetting to get back to me for nearly a year,and I hope this will be a turning point for Unionist Politicians.

At this moment in time i am awaiting two answers to Freedom Of Information requests, reports from the police Ombudsman on four complaints, a decision from the information commissioner and the upcoming appeal from Revels in April.

Thanks for taking the time to read this stuff and as always stay tuned as I will be putting names ,paramilitary status and believed involvement with these murders and other crimes on site.

Anyone with information ring me on 07787402595. God bless.Paul Mcilwaine.

By the way my wife and daughter will be doing the Belfast marathon walk in May, my wife 9 miles and daughter 26.2 miles, if you would like to sponsor one or both click on the links: Susie’s Sponsor page and Abigail’s sponsor page on the Blogroll column. My wife is doing it for Macmillan and daughter for British Irish Rights Watch a human rights organisation who deal with injustice. The method of payment is fully secure and donations will be much appreciated.

Thanks again,

Paul Mcilwaine.