To the Royal Ulster Constabulary they are 'converted terrorists', to the Republican community they are 'paid perjurers', to the families of the men and women they name for arrest they are liars 'greedy for money'. As one Loyalist supergrass himself admits, they are willing to make false depositions to achieve a reduction in sentence for their own crimes and the promise of a new life. In this programme the Republican

'Relatives for Justice' and the Loyalist 'Families for Legal Rights' groups are seen campaigning for an end to the supergrass system. The lives of many who have been found innocent after years on remand have been blighted. A growing number of outraged lawyers and politicians say that juryless courts convicting on such dubious evidence is not a system fit to be called justice.

Reporter Nuala O'Faolain

Feature: page 13