Info from UVF corrected household’s narrative – Paul Crawford
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aul Crawford was 17-years-old on January 9 1974 when his father John didn’t return dwelling from work.
As the household ready to have fun his youthful sister’s fourth birthday, they had been as an alternative plunged into the shock and grief of studying their father had been killed.
They confronted years of misinformation, with a caller purporting to be from the Official IRA claiming accountability for Mr Crawford’s killing, a hearsay he had been killed by individuals who had tried to rob him and false allegations he had been concerned in two murders.
The household went by way of an inquest, a prison trial, a Police Ombudsman’s investigation and an Historical Enquiries Team investigation, however nonetheless felt the misinformation had not been addressed.
Throughout the method I used to be crystal clear that I wished rationalization, not justification
The course of with the UVF took place after Mr Crawford reached out to Progressive Unionist Party members on social media in 2015 and attended a celebration convention the place legacy was mentioned with Winston Irvine.
The following yr, at a convention on legacy on the Queen’s University Belfast, Mr Crawford publicly challenged Mr Irvine over his father’s homicide and the pair started speaking and began working collectively.
It took 40 conferences and numerous phone conversations throughout seven years, however Mr Crawford stated he obtained what he wished – an acknowledgement of accountability from the UVF.
What he didn’t count on was to obtain a report from the UVF, printed on UVF headed paper, with all of the collated info he had been given on his father’s homicide.
Mr Crawford stated the data they acquired corrected plenty of issues that they had believed, together with the place their father had been killed.
It included their rationale, the sequence of occasions and timings.
Mr Crawford emphasised that he verified each piece of knowledge he acquired.
He stated there had been “good will, honesty and integrity” proven throughout the method, and acquired “full answers”.
“Throughout the process I was crystal clear that I wanted explanation, not justification,” he stated.
Asked whether or not he had been supplied an apology, Mr Crawford stated he was however he had refused it, saying he believed if he accepted an apology it was tantamount to saying it was OK.
He additionally identified that removed from simply the one one that was jailed for his father’s killing, there had been plenty of folks concerned, from those that carried out the killing to those that deliberate it and those that ordered it, and queried whether or not they would all be sorry.
Mr Crawford stated the 2 sides agreed to refer again to the apology which Gusty Spence issued on behalf of the UVF when he introduced their ceasefire in 1994.