22 JUNE 1991, Page 27

Justice for four

Sir: I welcome your article on the case of the four unjustly convicted Armagh UDR men (Penalising Protestants', 15 June). As Sandra Barwick says, theirs has been an uphill fight. But I must take exception to her suggestion that Unionist politicians were too close to the security forces to listen to their case.

My predecessor, Harold McCusker, was instrumental in forming the Committee, on which I now serve, which gave the Secret- ary of State for Northern Ireland a detailed submission calling for the case to be referred to the Court of Appeal in January of this year. My colleague, Ken Maginnis while being parliamentary adviser to the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, has also been active from the outset and has recently organised an early day motion supporting the UDR Four which, thanks largely to his hard work, has received nearly 200 signatures — a record, I believe, for an Ulster Unionist Early Day Motion.

In addition to seeking justice for the UDR Four we are equally anxious that the political pressures, from within this Gov- ernment and elsewhere, which appear to have corrupted the police inquiries into the murder of Mr Carroll, should be fully investigated.

David Trimble

House of Commons, London SW1