Ex-Royal Marine and convicted terrorist Ciaran Maxwell who led double life as an IRA bomb maker will have his pension stripped, defence ministers vowed
He is currently eligible to thousands of pounds a year as well as a lump sum of about £5,000
DEFENCE ministers have vowed to strip a Royal Marine who led a double life as an IRA bomb maker of his pension, it emerged.
Republican Ciaran Maxwell - jailed for 18 years this week - is eligible to draw a taxpayer-funded Armed Forces pension worth thousands of pounds a year as well as a lump sum of around £5,000.
But a senior defence source said it would be “plain wrong” for him to be rewarded for his crimes against Britain when he should have been training to defend the country.
MOST READ IN POLITICS
Ministers - backed by MPs - are now looking at options to cancel the pension.
Former Defence Minister Sir Gerald Howarth said people would be “scandalised” if a hardened terrorist was allowed to retire on a taxpayer-funded pension.
An MOD spokesperson said: "We are reviewing the implications of the verdict, including for any future pension entitlement."