An ex-UDR man wrongly accused of murdering a republican is demanding a public apology and compensation from the British government.
Colin Worton says his life was ruined after he was charged with killing Adrian Carroll who was brutally gunned down by loyalists in Armagh 28 years ago this week.
Worton spent almost three years in jail before the charges, based on an alleged statement he made in Castlereagh interrogation centre, were dropped.
Although acquitted by a judge, who deemed his 'confession' inadmissible, he was kicked out of the UDR.
"I found it impossible to get other work. I'd apply for job after job and not even get an interview," Worton said. "There's still a stigma surrounding me. The state ruined my life and never even said sorry."
He added: "On the anniversary of Adrian Carroll's murder, I hope and pray his family get justice and the real killer is caught. But I also want justice for myself and my name cleared of involvement in this heinous crime."
The ex-UDR man revealed his nightmare experience had changed his political outlook: "Before, I'd blind faith in the system. I was as green as grass. I dismissed talk of miscarriages of justice as republican propaganda.
"I got a real eye-opener. In the UDR, I'd worked closely with the police for years – I even guarded them – yet I was stitched up. Now, when I hear somebody say of an accused man, 'you can tell he's guilty by the cut of him', I tell them to wise up.
"Everyone should be innocent until proven guilty but, unfortunately, people are framed. I defended the Birmingham Six and Guildford Four when plenty of my friends slagged them off. I related to their experience – before, I'd just have branded them guilty."
Carroll, a 24 year-old painter, was walking home from work when a lone gunman shot him three times in the head and the neck. He came from a well know republican family in Armagh city where his brother Tommy was a Sinn Féin councillor.
Worton was on a UDR patrol nearby at the time of the shooting. Three weeks later, he was arrested in connection with the murder. He was interviewed 23 times by detectives and vigorously denied the allegations.
But, during the 24th interview, he allegedly admitted prior knowledge of the killing. "Police told me I faced 20 years in jail unless I made a confession. If I confessed, they said I'd only get five years," he claimed.
Worton alleged he was placed under huge psychological pressure. His brother Kenneth had been killed in the 1976 Kingsmill atrocity when the IRA took 10 Protestant workers off a bus and shot them on the road.
"The police claimed I was full of vengeance after that and had been involved in several killings. It was nonsense," Worton said. He refused food during his seven days in Castlereagh. "I thought I was going to die. I wrote a will," he recalled.
"The police told me other soldiers on the patrol had admitted the murder. Eventually, I signed a statement. I was sleep-deprived and a physical and mental wreck – a completely broken man."
Worton spent three years on remand in jail. In 1986, the trial judge acquitted him deeming his 'confession' – the only evidence against him – inadmissible. Other members of his patrol – Neil Latimer, Noel Bell, James Hegan, and Winston Allen – were convicted of murder. They became known as 'the UDR Four'.
Latimer served 14 years in jail before being freed under the Good Friday Agreement. The other three UDR members had their convictions quashed in 1992 and received compensation for wrongful imprisonment.
Worton said despite his release, his life spiralled downhill: "I served the remaining 10 months of my contract with the UDR but it wasn't renewed. This was 1987 when the conflict was raging. All my colleagues' contracts were renewed. They just wanted rid of me."
He is angry that soldiers on the British mainland convicted of murder were welcomed back into the Army. Scots' guardsmen ,Mark Wright and James Fisher, were sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering Catholic teenager Peter McBride in north Belfast in 1992.
They were released after six years and let back into the army. "Soldiers from mainland Britain are treated differently from those born here," Worton said. "We're seen as thick Paddies who are second-class citizens. How can the Army re-hire convicted murderers but justify sacking an innocent man like me?"
Bizarrely – unlike the UDR Four members who had their convictions overturned – Worton wasn't entitled to compensation for his three years' wrongful imprisonment because he'd never been convicted.
However, the law allows the government to make a special payment to him. So far, it has refused to do so. The SDLP and the three unionist parties all support his demand for a public apology and compensation.
Stormont Justice Minister, David Ford, has recognised Worton's "complete innocence". Worton added: "I appreciate what Mr Ford has said but it's actions not words I want from him now."
