Hi °C | Lo °C Thomas Valliday, the young Belfast man who is accused of murdering veteran republican Francis ‘Bap' McGreevy, surrendered to police out of fear, his trial heard yesterday.
Valliday made the admission during police interviews in which he accused 51-year-old Mr McGreevy of being a “killer” connected to the “Provies”, a slang term for the Provisional IRA.
But Valliday (21) from Lady Street, later described Mr McGreevy as “a gentleman”.
Valliday denies murder but admits fighting with Mr McGreevy — found brutally beaten in his Ross Street flat on March 15, 2008. He died in hospital three days later.
Belfast Crown Court heard that during police interviews, Valliday said he knew Mr McGreevy was “somehow connected” with the IRA and a number of other people could have been responsible for his killing. He refused to give names, saying “once I get out I will get killed stone dead, I know what they're like”. At hearing.
