The Five Demands

Supergrass accused not to give evidence (UTV)
The north Belfast men implicated by two UVF supergrass brothers have refused to give evidence on their own behalf.
On the 70th day of the Diplock trial at Belfast Crown Court, Judge Mr Justice Gillen said “the time had now come” for the accused, who include so-called Special Branch spy and UVF commander Mark Haddock, to give evidence.
The men are implicated in a catalogue of UVF terror crimes on the word of supergrass brothers Robert and Ian Stewart.
When it was revealed the accused would not take to the witness box in their own defence, Mr Justice Gillen asked defence counsel if their clients were aware that in such circumstances the court “may draw such inference as it deems proper”.
The lawyers said they had advised their clients of the implications of not giving evidence.
One of the men, 33-year-old Ronald Trevor Bowe, from Ross House in the Mount Vernon Estate, will call a doctor to give medical evidence on Wednesday.
Mr Justice Gillen has requested for the prosecution to provide supplemental written submissions by Thursday, and the defence respond by Monday of next week before oral submissions are made on Tuesday.
The judge informed the lawyers that once submissions, both written and oral, had been made he would give his “judgement as soon after as I can” on the case which began on 6 September 2011.
David Jason Smart, 36, was freed from the dock on Tuesday after the court heard that the prosecution were not challenging Mr Justice Gillen’s ruling that he had no case to answer.
The prosecution are also not challenging the judge’s ruling last week in which Smart, from Milewater Close, was cleared, but also his decision to acquit several others of involvement in the same two punishment beatings.
However, at the time Mr Justice Gillen said his finding on those charges didn’t apply to the evidence of the Stewart brothers relating to the murder of UDA rival Tommy English and to another punishment beating and to the allegations of UVF membership.