Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
A CONVICTED murderer is the head of a children’s charity supported by the Prince and Princess of Wales, it has emerged.
Paul Carberry, chief of Action for Children, stabbed a father-to-be on a train five times and wounded another, according to the Sunday Mirror.
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Last May, the killer charity boss, 60, was pictured shaking hands and grinning with Kate and William during a discussion about teaching children emotions.
Carberry was 16 when he chased John Murray, 21, and two pals, through a train carrying Scottish football fans to London for a match against England in 1979.
Reportedly brandishing a flick knife, he slashed Michael McBain, 22, who was asleep on a carriage floor, before killing John who was trying to escape through a locked door.
The court heard Carberry – a member of the rough Glasgow-based Govan Team gang – had been drinking beer and vodka when one of his cronies molested a woman on the train.
John head-butted Carberry following the incident before the charity boss slaughtered him in front of horrified football fans.
In defence Carberry said he had confiscated another man’s knife and remembered nothing of the attack.
In December 1979, aged 17, he was found guilty of murder and served time at a youth jail and in adult prison before being freed in 1985.
Survivor Michael McBain is now a married father who works as a joiner, he told the Sunday Mirror: “You’ve got to think of the family that was left without a son.”
John’s baby was born shortly after his murder, his fiancee Mary Manley said, adding: “He was delighted at the thought of being a father.”
Murderer Carberry was head of AfC Scotland when he met Kate and William before taking the £154,500-a-year job as head of the charity which provides practical and emotional care and support for kids.
AfC said the Palace was informed about Carberry’s murderous past when he became CEO in March, it is unclear if Kate and Will’s were aware when they met the killer last year.
There is not a single mention of the killing in any of the charity’s literature and Carberry has never spoken of it in public, claiming he “did not want to open up old wounds for anybody”.
Following the revelations, Carberry said this week: “I’ve committed a terrible offence, it’s something that I regret.”
He said “of course” he is haunted by the thought John’s daughter never met her dad, adding: “Particularly the line of work that I’m in and coming from a close family, a loving family.
“That’s absolutely been a factor in my life. And, actually, it’s been a factor in what I’ve then done as a result.
“And the first thing for me was some mother did not have her son because of me and some child did not have a father.”
A spokesman for the charity said: “The Trustees who appointed Paul Carberry as CEO did so in the full knowledge of his past, which is a matter of public record.
“He joined AfC as a manager in 1994. The organisation had full knowledge of his past. Paul has helped thousands of children and young people, including those involved in crime, helping many find jobs, avoid criminal exploitation and reach their potential.
“Prior to the interview for CEO, he had a discussion with the chair about his conviction.
“Chair Sarika Patel says he told her his time inside was a turning point and although he couldn’t change what he did, he had dedicated his life and his rehabilitation to help vulnerable young people.
“Paul told us he did disclose his conviction before he became a member of Scotland’s Serious Organised Crime Force.”