Member's statement: William Lloyd-Lavery: Conviction

Member's statement by Mr Jon Burrows on 11 May 2026.

MLA

Mr Jon Burrows

Party at the time

Ulster Unionist Party

Date

11 May 2026

Type

Member's statement

Business

Members' Statements

Heading

William Lloyd-Lavery: Conviction

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5523564

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I pay tribute to the six women who recently secured the conviction of William Lloyd-Lavery for sexual abuse in a school in the seventies. The victims displayed great courage, resilience and tenacity in securing that conviction after all these years. Two of the victims, Nicola Bannon and Lynne Darcy, waived their anonymity. Collectively, in making the case so public, the victims have, I hope, inspired other victims to come forward and give evidence. The publication of 'The Katie Simpson Review' report and the sentencing of William Lloyd-Lavery should make last week a seminal moment in Northern Ireland. There is an opportunity for us to make a clear and unequivocal stand against any form of abuse, degrading behaviour or sexual assault against women or girls. Lloyd-Lavery's offending was disgusting. It is shameful that, at one stage, he worked for the Ulster Unionist Party, in that he worked for an MLA. No association should change our ability to stand up and say that his behaviour was vile. The case brought up the issue of character references. One was given by David Campbell and another by David Lavery, the first of whom is a former a chair of my party, I am ashamed to say, and now works for the Loyalist Communities Council. The second of those people holds a high position in the Law Society. Let me make this clear: when it comes to a trial, people should be able to put forward evidence if they want to make the case that someone is innocent, but, once that person has been convicted of sexual assault, there is no place for a character reference. In this case, the defendant, William Lloyd-Lavery, denied the offence. In effect, he called all his victims liars, yet, on his conviction, two members of our society, including one who holds a senior position in the Law Society, felt that it was it right to give that individual a character reference. The case also throws up the issue of delay. The time between the victims giving a statement to the police and the verdict was six years. Many victims, of sexual and domestic violence in particular, cannot withstand the pressure of giving evidence over a six-year period. Often, suspects delay their plea — in this case, there was a not guilty plea — until the last minute, in the hope that a victim will break.

I pay tribute to those women for their courage, their resilience and their tenacity. We need to deal with the issue of character references post conviction for sexual assault, speed up our justice system and take a stand for victims, not perpetrators.

438 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:33 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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