Loyalists threaten legal action on Maghaberry

Loyalists tonight threatened to take the British government to court over conditions for paramilitary prisoners at a high security Northern Ireland jail.

Representatives of Ulster Volunteer Force and Red Hand Commando inmates held under new arrangements at Maghaberry Prison claimed they were being discriminated against.

Loyalists and republicans at the bitterly divided complex near Lisburn, Co Antrim, have been separated amid major security fears.

Prisoners who demanded segregation were allowed to be kept apart once they signed up to the terms laid out by the authorities.

But the Post Conflict Prisoners Support Group claimed exercise and health facilities in the specially equipped cell blocks were not up to standard.

Spokesman Ken Wilkinson said: “We’re not asking for the moon and the stars, all we want is to be treated equally.

“One of our prisoners will be taking a judicial review on the basis of the discrimination in separated wings compared to the rest of the jail.”

The British government agreed to bring in extra guards and install extra security at Maghaberry, which holds Northern Ireland’s most notorious terrorists and criminals, after an intensive and violent campaign by both sides.

Loyalists were blamed for bomb attacks on warders homes while republicans inside the jail smeared their cells with excrement in a so-called dirty protest.

As well as the cost to fit more cameras and gates, the regime is expected to cost the same amount to run annually.

The Northern Ireland Prison Service refused to comment on the implications of any legal action.