Tearful plea over boyfriend's murder

The distraught girlfriend of murdered Jonathan Stewart who was shot just days after Christmas has made an emotional appeal to the public to help the police catch his killer.

Speaking at a press conference in Belfast Mr Stewart's girlfriend Natalie Truesdale, who at one point broke down in tears, made the appeal for information about the murder which police have connected to the feud between the loyalist paramilitary group the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and the expelled leader of its west Belfast unit Johnny Adair.

Mr Stewart was shot dead on 27 December while at a party in Manor Street in north Belfast. A lone hooded gunman burst into the house and singled out the 22-year-old and shot him in the back of the head.

Detectives believe Mr Stewart was shot because he was the nephew of an opponent of Johnny Adair.

Days after the killing, Roy Green, a convicted drug dealer and a senior figure within the ranks of the UDA – and close associate of Adair – was shot dead outside a pub in south Belfast.

Police have set up a specialist team to catch the killers but have yet to charge anyone.

Police have also searched over 120 houses in the area since Mr Stewart’s murder. During the searches three blank firing firearms and one reactivated firearm were recovered as well as items of clothing which are similar to those worn by the gunman who killed Jonathan Stewart.

Detective Superintendent Roy Suitters who is leading the investigation said the police were braced for further attacks.

"We are laying the responsibility for this murder quite firmly at the door of (the UDA’s) 'C' Company," he said.

"These are people who set themselves up to be protectors of the Protestant people. But in fact, over the last couple of years they have murdered more Protestants than Catholics."

Appealing for the public’s help, Ms Truesdale said: “Please, please help the police to get these people off the streets. I just want justice for him, he didn’t deserve it.

“It’s just a feud which Jonathan should not have been brought into. He didn’t have any paramilitary links.”

(AMcE)