Troubles Pension Awarded to Victim of Paramilitary-Style Shooting Following McCabe Judgment

A Phoenix Law client who was shot in a paramilitary-style attack in Belfast has been awarded a Troubles Permanent Disablement Payment, after the Victims’ Payments Board reversed its earlier refusal in light of the High Court’s judgment in the McCabe case.

Following a review hearing on 12 October 2026, a Review Panel of the Victims’ Payments Board determined that the attack was a Troubles-related incident. It found that our client is entitled to victims’ payments, including a substantial backdated lump sum and ongoing monthly payments.

The original refusal

Our client was attacked by masked men, forcibly taken outside and shot in both legs. The attack took place during a paramilitary ceasefire and was carried out by a republican paramilitary group.

In 2024 a Determination Panel accepted that republican paramilitaries were responsible. However, because the attack followed a personal disagreement, it was not satisfied that it was a Troubles-related incident, and refused the application.

The McCabe judgment

On 27 May 2026, Mr Justice Scoffield delivered judgment in Re McCabe’s Application for Judicial Review [2026] NIKB 24. The judgment clarified how the statutory definition of a Troubles-related incident applies to paramilitary-style attacks.

As a direct result, the Victims’ Payments Board withdrew its 2023 Information Note on paramilitary-style attacks and issued a new Note in June 2026.

Diarmuid Brecknell of Phoenix Law appealed our client’s refusal and sought a review on the basis of the McCabe judgment, as a relevant change of circumstance under regulation 43 of the Victims’ Payments Regulations 2020.

Our submissions

On our client’s behalf, Phoenix Law argued that:

• breaking a ceasefire to carry out a punishment shooting was an inherently political act;
• punishment shootings were a means by which paramilitary groups exerted control and enforced their authority in communities; and
• a personal disagreement may have been the pretext for the attack, but that did not take away from the other material reasons behind it.

We also relied on contemporaneous press coverage showing that the attack was condemned across the political spectrum at the time.

The Review Panel’s decision

The Review Panel accepted our submissions. Applying McCabe, it set out the following principles:

• A punishment-style or vigilante-style attack can still be a Troubles-related incident where at least one material reason for it relates to the constitutional status of Northern Ireland or to political or sectarian hostility.
• The assessment must look at all the material reasons for the violence. A qualifying reason does not need to be the sole, main or dominant one.
• A material reason may be established where the attack furthered a paramilitary organisation’s wider operations, such as maintaining authority, exerting control or suppressing opponents.

The Panel found that, while the incident had its roots in a personal disagreement, it had all the hallmarks of a paramilitary-style attack, and the extreme violence used pointed to wider motivations. It took judicial notice of the role such attacks played during the Troubles as a tool for asserting control, enforcing discipline and instilling fear within communities.

The Panel acknowledged our client as a victim of the Troubles and recognised the trauma, permanent injury, loss and harm the attack has caused him.

Diarmuid Brecknell of Phoenix Law said:

“It is welcome that the Victims’ Payments Board are now aligning themselves with Parliament’s initial intention and opening the scheme to thousands of people who were victims of punishment shootings and other injuries. Our client has always deserved this payment and we are glad, after this time, to have secured it for him.”

What this means for others

People injured in punishment shootings and beatings whose applications to the Troubles Permanent Disablement Payment Scheme were refused before McCabe may now be able to have those decisions reviewed.

If you or a family member were refused a Troubles pension, or are considering an application, contact Phoenix Law on 028 90 328 383.