A trio of Protestant paramilitaries – linked to some of the Troubles’ worst atrocities – were taught to fire deadly machine guns by the British Army.

he shocking revelation comes after the publication of a report by the police ombudsman into dozens of loyalist killings which concluded collusive behavior by security forces was widespread.

And The Sunday World can reveal all three received weapons training at the same Army Cadet Hall in the heart of East Belfast.

They are:

• ‘Person U’ last week identified as the main shooter in the newly released police ombudsman’s report into the 1992 Sean Graham bookstore murders, when five people died;
• Michael Stone, imprisoned for the infamous shooting and bombing at an IRA funeral at Milltown Cemetery in 1988 when three people died;
• And Gorman McMullan, who was named in the film No Stone Unturned as a suspect in the Loughinisland massacre, when six Catholic men were shot while watching the World Cup final on television in 1994.

All three then joined the ruthless loyalist terrorist group Red Hand Commando. But their initial weapons training was provided courtesy of the British Army Cadet Corps.

“Person U”, Stone and McMullan were teenagers when they joined and learned to wield deadly rifles and machine guns.

But last week Loughinisland massacre suspect McMullan (68) was quiet when asked about his days as a boy soldier in the Army Cadet Corps.

McMullan told this reporter, “Listen to Jordan, far and ‘F’ yourself!”

Hailing from Clarawood near the Knock dual carriageway, McMullan and “Person U” were childhood friends of Michael Stone, who lived on the nearby Braniel estate.

In a small army drill hall at the end of Slate Lane in Orangefield, would-be loyalist terrorists learned how to drill and handle firearms.

But it was on trips to Ballykinlar army camp in Co Down and another on the Isle of Man that they really developed the deadly skills that prepared them for their future roles as loyalist shooters.

At the start of the Troubles, “Person U”, Stone, and McMullan all left the cadet corps to join Red Hand Commando, based in Braniel’s estate.

As The Troubles grew, “Person U” – the future bookmaker killer – was arrested for intimidating seven Catholic families living in Braniel.

But he escaped prosecution and left the police station under the eyes of a mystified Catholic who had denounced him.

A former Catholic resident now thinks this may be when ‘Person U’ was hired as a police tout.

“My dad identified ‘Person U’ as the thug who chased our family away. He gave a statement to the police and ‘Person U’ was arrested, but he was released almost immediately,” one man told us.

He then left the RHC to join the Ulster Freedom Fighters, the military section of the UDA.

And it was as a member of the UFF that his career as a murderer began.

Gorman McMullan was one of six loyalists convicted of blowing up the Catholic-owned Hillfoot Bar on the edge of Braniel’s estate in September 1972. He was imprisoned for eight years.

Last week, Police Ombudsman Marie Anderson strongly condemned what she called the ‘collusive behaviour’ of RUC officers investigating a series of UFF murders in south Belfast.

Twenty-seven Catholics lost their lives – and dozens more were injured – when deadly Ulster Freedom Fighters gangs unleashed a series of terror attacks in south Belfast.

Despite being imprisoned for his role in an unrelated loyalist murder bid, ‘Person U’ never spent a single day behind bars in connection with the bookmakers massacre.

Former prominent loyalist paramilitaries told The Sunday World they were now convinced ‘Person U’ was working for a state security agency when he pulled the trigger on Sean Graham’s bookies.

“We didn’t know it then – because we were too close to it all – but it’s so obvious now, ‘Person U’ was working for the state.

‘Person U’ was also allegedly the loyalist shooter in the savage murder of Catholic taxi driver Harry Conlon.

Mr Conlon, a 54-year-old father of four, was shot dead four months before Sean Graham’s attack.

Person U’ is believed to be alive and well and living in mainland Europe

After two long stints in prison, loyalist killer Michael Stones now lives in Co Down.