UDA attempts to justify murder of Catholic
The Ulster Defence Association has issued a statement tonight admitting responsibility for the murder of 19-year-old Gerard Lawlor, a Catholic father-of-one, in north Belfast.
The murder was initially claimed under the cover name of the Red Hand Defenders, but tonight, the UDA admitted involvement and warned of further violence.
The organisation said the murder of Mr Lawlor was a “measured military response” to the earlier shooting of a Protestant man in Glenbryn, believed to have been carried out by the INLA.
In its statement, the UDA said the police and British Army have done nothing to protect Protestant people from nationalist attacks and warned that if nationalists do not cease attacks, there will be “further military action”.
Last year, the British Government declared that it no longer recognised the UDA ceasefire following a spate of nightly pipe-bomb attacks on Catholic civilians and the murder of a number of civilians, both Protestant and Catholic, by the organisation.
This evening’s statement appears to suggest that the UDA ceasefire is now officially over.
