THE family of Catholic man murdered by loyalists has written to the director of public prosecutions demanding to know why it took authorities 35 years to tell them his killer was a former British soldier.
Relatives of Larne man Rodney McCormick last night revealed they have also written to PSNI chief constable George Hamilton.
The father-of-one was shot dead outside his Larne home in August 1980 by a three-man UDA gang with alleged links to the SAS.
Last month the Ministry of Defence admitted one of the men, William McClelland, was a former member of the UDR.
He along with brothers Robert and Eric McConnell were later convicted for their part in the murder of Mr McCormick and Protestant nationalist politician John Turnly (44), also in 1980.
The PSNI had previously told the Pat Finucane Centre that it held no information “to indicate that Mr McClelland was a member of the armed forces, UDR or the Prison Service” while the UDR link was not mentioned during the trial.
Under questioning McClelland had claimed Mr McCormick was killed because “he had done time and become a Provie”.
It has been reported in the Troubles victims' chronology, Lost Lives, that Mr McCormick served a prison sentence aligned to the IRSP-INLA after being convicted of an armed robbery in the mid 70s.
However his family maintain he was not connected to any paramilitary group.
A report produced by the Historical Enquiries Team reveals that investigators concluded “that there was no intelligence or evidence to indicate” Mr McCormick was a member of a republican organisation.
In a statement the family said: “His shooting was justified by the usual lie put about by loyalist paramilitaries at the time as confirmed by the HET and family that Rodney McCormick was not a member of a republican group.”
