Executed killer exhumed for burial

THE REMAINS of an IRA man executed 57 years ago in Belfast have been unearthed from a prison for reburial, the Northern Ireland Prison Service confirmed yesterday.

Tom Williams, 19, was hanged and buried in an unmarked grave within the walls of Crumlin Road Jail after he was convicted of involvement in the killing of RUC Constable Patrick Murphy in Belfast in 1942. Five other men were also sentenced to death but they won reprieves from the British government. One of those reprieved was Joe Cahill, who took part in last year's historic peace talks in Belfast.

Republicans and relatives had campaigned for Williams' reburial at Milltown Cemetery and were present as his body was exhumed last Saturday.

Liam Shannon of the National Graves Associationsaid the reburial was "long overdue" and the Williams family would be delighted that he would be given "the Christian burial he deserves".

However the decision has been denounced by the DUP Justice spokesman, Ian Paisley Jnr, who said the decision was "a pay-off for movement on the bodies of the disappeared".