§ Mr. MullinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) when Mr. John Byrne, a former member of the British armed forces in Northern Ireland, was sentenced to life imprisonment; what was his crime; and if he has been released;
(2) when Mr. Stan Hathaway, a former member of the British armed forces in Northern Ireland, was sentenced to life imprisonment; what was his crime; and if he has been released.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggAt Belfast Crown court in January 1981, Stanley Hathaway, then a serving soldier, pleaded guilty to the murder of two civilians while on patrol duty in October 1972. On the same date, John Byrne, also a serving soldier, pleaded guilty to one of the murders. Both men were sentenced to life imprisonment and were subsequently transferred to England to serve their sentences. Neither has been released.