DUP angry at assets 'discrepancy'

Nigel Dodds says agency should target more republicans

The DUP's Nigel Dodds has said he wants to know why the Assets Recovery Agency appears to be targeting more loyalists than republicans.

Mr Dodds said figures supplied by the security minister show four times as many criminal assets have been recovered from loyalists.

The North Belfast MP said that the people of Northern Ireland deserve an explanation.

"There seems to be a major discrepancy and I want to know why," Mr Dodds said.

He asked why "despite the millions of pounds being laundered, the millions of pounds being smuggled and stolen" only a "tiny proportion" had been taken from republicans.

On Tuesday, the High Court ruled that assets of £200,000 owned by murdered LVF man Stephen Warnock can be seized by the agency.

They include a £100,000 insurance policy, over £40,000 found in his car on the day he was shot and the proceeds of the sale of a house in Newtownards.

Warnock, 35, was shot dead in his car in September, 2002, in Newtownards.

The judge said the agency was relying on the police belief that Warnock was a major supplier of cannabis and ecstasy.