An elderly woman whose husband was shot dead more than 50 years ago has been turned down for a Troubles’ pension despite a panel finding she “suffered grievously”.
Mary Hull (73) has described the recent decision by the Victims Pension Board (VPB) as an “insult”.
The 73-year-old was left widowed at the age of 21 with two young children, aged three and one, when her husband James Trainor was shot dead by the UVF at the west Belfast filling station where he worked in January 1973.
Established in 2021, the board determines applications under the Troubles Permanent Disablement Payment Scheme, which is sometimes referred to as the Victims’ Payments Scheme.
Ms Hull had appealed an earlier decision to reject her claim because “she was not present at the incident or in its immediate aftermath”.
In dismissing her appeal, the board said it has “no power under the regulations in respect of those who were bereaved during the Troubles unless they satisfy the criteria regarding presence”.
The Co Armagh native had told pension scheme staff how her father had identified her murdered husband.
She also revealed that when his body was returned, she can remember seeing “bullet holes in his head” and described how an undertaker had “tried to stuff them with cotton wool and had covered the wounds with a thick, yellowish make-up”.
She added that an attempt had been made to pull curls in her husband’s hair down to “cover the wounds”.
Ms Hull found this upsetting and revealed the images are “deeply ingrained into her memory and will never leave her”.
The pensioner has argued that had police come to her home before her husband died, she could have been with him.
She believes she was denied an opportunity to be with her husband in the aftermath of the shooting and “it was through the inactions of others” she has been tuned down.
“Because I was not present at the scene, I’m not entitled to the Troubles pension,” she said.
“I’m 73 now and 52 years of fighting them and I can’t change the law.
“As if I was not traumatised enough.”
Ms Hull said her treatment was a “insult” and added that she will “try and get this law changed”.
She has received letters of support from Stormont health minister Mike Nesbitt and Lord Robin Eames, ex-Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh.
UUP leader Mr Nesbitt, a former victims’ commissioner, said the grandmother is “always thinking of others despite her own deep hurt and heartbreak” and referenced “the continued support she has provided to others”.
Lord Eames referenced the “efforts the Appellant has made over the years to recognise the needs of widows following the Troubles”.
Ms Hull was assessed by a consultant clinical psychologist who confirmed she suffers from a major depressive disorder as a result of the incident.
A spokesperson for the Victims’ Payments Board says: “While we are unable to make any comment on individual cases, we are pleased that the appeal process which exists to maximise an applicant’s chances of receiving a just assessment of their case has indeed been shown to work well.
“We would remind all applicants for a Troubles Permanent Disablement Payment that they have recourse to the appeal process if they are not satisfied with an outcome.”
