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Episode 116: Michael Stone - a true Loyalist paramilitary or simply a violent psychopath?

Childhood pal remembers a strange young man who was cruel to animals and who was an outsider in his home and community

Nicola Tallant

He is one of the most notorious killers in the history of the North's Troubles, and when he staged a single-handed attack on a Provisional IRA funeral at Milltown Cemetery in 1988 his face became infamous across the world.

Today, Michael Stone is wheelchair bound and poses for selfies with young loyalists who see him as a cult hero for one side of a bitter divide.

But was Stone a true loyalist paramilitary or was he simply a violent psychopath with a bloodlust and a desire to cement his name in history?

Nicola Tallant talks with journalist Hugh Jordan, who met Stone at the recent Orange Order centenary event at Stormont, and with his friend, Jim Murtagh, who grew up with the convicted killer and who remembers a strange young man who was cruel to animals and who was an outsider in his home and community.

Crime Word Podcast can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Soundcloud.


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