Cable Briefs (Press, 8 September 1978)

A senior figure from a Protestant guerrilla group has been sentenced to 16 life terms for his role in a bombing in Belfast that resulted in the deaths of 15 individuals. Robert Campbell, 43, a self-proclaimed commander in the banned Ulster Volunteer Force, pleaded guilty to 15 counts of murder related to the bombing of McGurk's Bar, along with an additional life sentence for a sectarian murder committed in 1976. The judge suggested Campbell should serve at least 20 years, and his total sentence adds up to 85 years across six other charges, which include attempted mass murder and being a member of the outlawed group. In a separate international development, South African Foreign Minister Pik Botha has abruptly shortened his United Nations visit to return home for Cabinet consultations. Botha expressed South Africa's inability to accept the deployment of 7,500 UN troops in Namibia, deeming the number excessive, while also rejecting a proposal for an additional 360 UN civilian police. In Moscow, a businessman, Ame Crawford, accused of violating Soviet currency regulations has pledged to leave the Soviet Union in ten days if a court grants him a suspended sentence. Crawford, contesting the charges, insisted that the evidence against him was contradictory and that he had been treated unfairly by the judicial process. In health news, three individuals have died, and six others are suspected of having contracted Legionnaires' disease in New York. Health officials linked the illness to an earlier outbreak in 1976, when 29 people passed away exhibiting flu-like symptoms after attending an American Legion convention in Philadelphia. In a criminal case in New York, two women in a lesbian relationship have been given sentences of at least 30 years in prison for orchestrating a murder-for-hire plot to eliminate one of the women’s husbands for his life insurance policy of $100,000, which they intended to use to further their relationship. During the trial, one of the women, Carol Taylor, claimed she was subjected to a biased trial, while the presiding judge labelled her "completely evil" for her role in the crime, which occurred in 1976. Lastly, the UK is set to welcome a new national daily newspaper, provisionally named the "Daily Star," launching next month from Manchester. Derek Jameson, editor of the "Daily Express," revealed details about the new tabloid, which is positioned as a competitor to the "Daily Mirror."

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