An Orangeman who was promoted to a managerial position more than two decades after the murder of his wife is under pressure to resign.
tephen Fulton (77) has been named Honoring Grandmaster of Cookstown LOL No3.
However, the decision has caused outrage.
He was jailed for shooting his wife Corien Fulton in the head in 1999 after she threatened to leave him.
The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland is keeping a low profile on the controversy.
“We will not be commenting at this time,” it said.
But Orange Order sources have expressed disbelief at the situation.
“People vote locally who they want, it’s a decision of the local chapters,” explained one member.
“There are very mixed feelings about this, but the widespread belief is that they got it wrong. As such, no rules were broken but Mr Fulton should resign.”
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Stephen Fulton: Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX
Stephen Fulton: Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX
The former Royal Irish Rangers part-time employee has been jailed for killing his wife.
Fulton was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for manslaughter after Omagh Crown Court accepted that “his actions had been materially marred by a classifiable mental disorder”.
He moved back to Cookstown and after his release rejoined the Orange Order.
Although he has his supporters, sources told the newspaper there is a growing realization that he cannot remain the longest-serving Orangeman in the city of Co Tyrone.
“Some people knew about his past, some didn’t,” a source explained.
“But many members think he should resign, (that) he shouldn’t have been elected in the first place.”
It is understood that Fulton was one of the few people who suggested his name for the role.
If he refuses to step down, members will have to wait until voting reopens next year to oust him.
Over the weekend, Fulton insisted he had paid for his crime.
“It happened over 20 years ago and I’ve done my time,” he said.
“Someone from the Orange Order was after you and betrayed me. I don’t know what else to say.”
Fellow Orangeman Trevor Carson defended his friend who “has paid his debt to society”. He described him as “a good man”.
Fulton’s wife was 20 years his junior.
He blew her up in June 1999 at the home they shared in Cookstown’s Old Rectory Heights after she revealed she was leaving him for another man.
The trial judge described the removal of her wedding ring in the bedroom where she was shot as “the final straw that started the shooting.”
“You killed a comparatively young woman and for this the public interest requires that you be punished despite the medical report before me and the provocation under which you acted,” added Judge Gillen.
The ruling and the sentence were criticized at the time by the leader of the women’s coalition, Monica McWilliams.
https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/crime/convicted-wife-killer-stephen-fulton-77-under-pressure-to-resign-from-top-role-in-orange-order-42330753.html Orangeman Stephen Fulton (77), who killed his wife under pressure to resign
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