TRIBUTES have been paid to victims' campaigner, Terry Laverty, who passed away on Saturday.
The 68-year-old's brother, John Laverty, was among 11 people murdered by the British Army's Parachute Regiment in the Ballymurphy Massacre in August 1971.
On the night of the shootings, Terry was arrested, brutalised by soldiers and charged with riotous behaviour. He was subsequently sentenced to six months in prison.
Terry was a tireless campaigner for justice, and lived to see his brother and nine others declared "entirely innocent" at inquest in May 2021.
In February 2015, Terry had his conviction overturned after a British soldier retracted an earlier statement. Outside Laganside court that day, an emotional Terry said: “I had been wrongly convicted of riotous behaviour and imprisoned – convicted solely on the word of a soldier who has admitted, more than 40 years later, that he lied.”
Terry passed peacefully at home on Saturday surrounded by his family.
Terry Laverty at the Relatives for Justice offices in 2015
Announcing his passing Terry's daughter Karen said: “Earlier this evening, our daddy Terry laughed his last and went to meet his beloved Lily.
"He died as he lived; with love, with strength, with family and of course with that famous sense of humour.
"Our lives will never be as bright, but by God, the craic in heaven will be mighty."
In a statement, the Ballymurphy Massacre Families said: "Terry fought the good fight and justice prevailed, it’s a blessing that he had his day in court restoring his good reputation and that of his brother John.
"Condolences to his children and wider family circle including his sisters Rita and Carmel who campaigned tirelessly alongside Terry."
Relatives for Justice said in a statement: "We were heartbroken to hear last night that Terry Laverty has passed away. Terry was one of the survivors of the Ballymurphy Massacre, brutalised and tortured, while his brother John was being killed. Our thoughts and love are with his surviving family today."
The Springhill/Westrock Massacre Families sent "deepest condolences" to Terry's family.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the Laverty family on the passing of Terry," they said.
Terry's remains will leave his daughter's home, 40 The Beeches, Crumlin, on Wednesday at 10.30am for 11.00am Requiem Mass in Mater Dei Church followed by burial at Crumlin Cemetery.
