Housing Executive acted 'unlawfully' towards man given hours to leave home by loyalist paramilitary

The Northern Ireland Housing Executive unlawfully refused to award intimidation points to a loyalist paramilitary victim given 48 hours to leave his area, a High Court judge ruled today. Mr Justice Humphreys quashed its decision to deny the points allocation to Belfast man Craig Thompson after identifying a failure to apply the proper test on the level of threat. Mr Thompson issued judicial review proceedings against the authority after his application under the scheme for those seeking to move home was turned down in August.

Under the priority system operated by the Housing Executive, points are awarded if a tenant’s property is destroyed, or they are assessed as being at serious and imminent threat of being killed or seriously injured in a terrorist, sectarian or racial attack. The court heard Mr Thompson has suffered paramilitary beatings and been rehoused in the past. In April this year an altercation with a UDA commander allegedly resulted in a threat to shoot him and burn his property. Three months later he received a fresh death threat, followed by a visit from police officers warning his life was in danger and that he had 48 hours to vacate the property. He was then issued with a threat message which further stated: “If he doesn’t leave, he will be attacked by loyalist paramilitaries. The use of firearms cannot be ruled out.” Police checks established there had been separate threats from the UDA at a high level. A designated officer within the Housing Executive who considered Mr Thompson’s application for points accepted he was at risk, but was not satisfied that the threshold of imminent danger had been met. However, Mr Justice Humphreys found that if the correct test had been applied a different outcome may have been reached. “The NIHE (Housing Executive) has failed to properly consider the legal threshold of ‘serious and imminent risk’,” he said. “Merely to describe it as ‘high’ without any analysis of what the words actually mean puts the decision maker at grave risk of falling into error.” The judge went on to state: “The proper test to be applied by a designated officer operating this scheme is identical to the test for the engagement of an Article 2 right, namely that there is a risk of death or serious injury which is not remote or fanciful and which is present and continuing. “As a result, the NIHE has committed an error of law which vitiates this decision-making process.” With the decision also held to be irrational, he confirmed: “The application for judicial review succeeds and I make an order quashing the decision of the NIHE to refuse to award the applicant intimidation points.”

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know.