A loyalist paramilitary has had his jail sentence substantially reduced after he agreed to identify the killers of Sunday World journalist Martin O'Hagan to police.
Neil Hyde, 32, was described by the judge at Belfast Crown Court as an enforcer in the Loyalist Volunteer Force, a violent and dangerous agitator, who had embarked on a career of sustained criminality.
He faced a catalogue of charges including having guns, withholding information about terrorist attacks and serious public disorder.
Hyde was facing 18 years in prison, but that was reduced to three when he agreed to identify the alleged killers of Mr O'Hagan who was shot dead in front of his wife and daughters in 2001.
Hyde, who was also previously charged with Mr O'Hagan’s murder, was warned by the judge that if he failed to keep his side of the bargain with police, he could be brought back to court and re-sentenced.
The court heard that Hyde was now in a Witness Protection Unit.
