Murderer faces 20 years in jail

A notorious loyalist murderer is facing 20 years behind bars after being returned to jail for breaching his Good Friday Agreement release licence.

Glenn 'Shrek' Haggan, 29, joins a small number of Good Friday Agreement prisoners rejailed for licence breach, including Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair. He was returned to Maghaberry Prison on 7 April after PSNI officers arrested him as he walked near his home in Sunningdale Gardens, Lurgan.

Haggan was jailed in 1995 after pleading guilty to the murder of schoolboy Gavin Malcolm. Haggan and three friends were drunk when they picked on Malcolm, 15, as he made his way home from school. They kicked him repeatedly, but ran off when he tried to attract the help of a passing motorist. When the driver failed to stop, they returned, dragged him into a nearby block of flats, and pushed him 50ft to his death from a fourth-floor window. He was so badly beaten that police thought he had been the victim of a hit-and-run.

At their trial the gang was said by the judge to have acted like a 'pack of hyenas'. Haggan, who gave evidence against his accomplices, was sentenced to be detained at the Secretary of State's pleasure, which is usually the equivalent of a life term.

However, he served only three years before being released under the Good Friday Agreement, after the mid-Ulster UVF accepted him as a paramilitary prisoner in jail. He later joined Billy Wright's LVF, set up in 1996. He went on to become a leading LVF figure. Two of his accomplices received 12-year terms while the fourth received two years for withholding information.

Since his release, Haggan has received convictions for driving offences and assault, including against his former wife, but has repeatedly secured non-custodial sentences. He has also been repeatedly shot and beaten by rivals.

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