Gary Convie and Eamon Fox: James Smyth not guilty of UVF murders

Eamon Fox, who was 41, and 24-year-old Gary Convie were shot dead as they ate their lunch at a building site in Belfast in 1994

A man has been found not guilty of murdering two Catholic workmen who were shot dead by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) in 1994.

James Stewart Smyth, 57, from Forthriver Link in Belfast, had denied the murders of Gary Convie and Eamon Fox.

The men were killed as they ate lunch in a car at a building site in Belfast.

Mr Smyth was also cleared of attempted murder, possessing a firearm and membership of the UVF.

Speaking outside the court, Mr Fox's son Kieran described the verdict as "heart-breaking".

"We thought we had a strong case," he said.

"It's a sad day for us."

He said that the fact nobody had been convicted of his father's murder was "soul destroying".

The senior loyalist-turned-supergrass Gary Haggarty was the main prosecution witness in the case against Mr Smyth.

Acquitting Mr Smyth, the judge said he had doubts across a number of issues, including Haggarty's evidence, some eyewitness evidence about the gunman's height and DNA evidence.

The prosecution had previously argued DNA evidence, Mr Smyth's "bad character" and testimony from Haggarty were enough to convict.

At the time of the double murder Haggarty was second in command to the military commander Mark Haddock of the UVF in Tigers Bay.

The scene of the murder of Eamonn Fox and Gary Convie

Haggarty was handed a reduced prison sentence after admitting more than 500 terror crimes, including five murders.

He was released from prison in 2018 only four months into the six-and-a-half year term, for providing information about other terrorist suspects.

At the non-jury trial at Belfast Crown Court on Thursday, Mr Justice O'Hara said Haggarty was an unreliable witness and it could not be proven beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Smyth was the gunman.