The boss of a children’s charity supported by the Princess of Wales is a convicted murderer, it emerged today.
Kate, 41, and William, 40, met Paul Carberry at a school Action for Children event, but reportedly had no idea about his past.
The Princess of Wales – then Duchess of Cambridge – was pictured smiling with Carberry last May at St John’s Primary in Inverclyde, Scotland.
Carberry was 16 when he fatally stabbed a man on a train five times and injured another passenger.
He served five-and-a-half years, first in a young offenders facility and then in an adult prison, after being found guilty of murder in 1979.
Greeting: Kate smiles and shakes hands with Paul Carberry on a visit to school last year
Guilty: Paul Carberry in 1979. He served five-and-a-half years, first in a young offender facility and then in an adult prison, after being found guilty of murder
Speaking over the weekend after details about his past came to light, he said it was something he “regretted every day.”
Now 60 and a married father of three, Carberry said he chose not to speak out of respect for his victim’s family.
After his release from prison he trained as a social worker before joining Action for Children (AfC) in 1994 and was National Director for Scotland when he met Kate and William. In March he became CEO at £154,500 a year.
The princess has been a royal patron of AfC since 2016, which aims to ‘protect and support children and young people’.
Carberry is also part of the Serious and Organized Crime Taskforce in his native Scotland with an assignment to curb youth gangs.
There is no mention of the assassination in AfC literature. The charity said Buckingham Palace knew about Carberry’s past when he became CEO.
A Palace source said the royal couple are “very confident in his abilities as CEO”.
Carberry was reportedly part of the Govan Team gang, named after a gritty district of his native Glasgow, when he stabbed 21-year-old John Murray on a train taking Scottish football fans to London for a match against England in 1979.
Haunted: John Murray died at the age of 21 after being stabbed on a train by Carberry
According to court reports, Carberry had been drinking and the violence began after a member of his group assaulted a woman on board.
He reportedly brandished a jackknife as he chased Mr Murray and two friends onto the crowded train. Carberry stabbed 22-year-old Michael McBain, who was sleeping on the floor, before stabbing Mr. Murray when a locked door stopped him from escaping, reports said.
Carberry denied murder, claiming that he confiscated another man’s knife and had no memory of the attack after being headbutted by Mr. Murray during an argument. A trial at Chester Crown Court in December 1979 found him guilty.
He was given a sentence at Her Majesty’s Pleasure, an indefinite sentence that can never become a conviction under British law, the Sunday Mirror reported.
Carberry is said to have closed his eyes and shook his head when he was sentenced. A newspaper reported the story under the headline, “Terror on the Tartan Express.”
Mr Murray’s sister said he was being denied the life and successes Carberry had enjoyed.
Speaking in New Cumnock, Ayrshire, Elizabeth McLatchie told the newspaper: “We have heard that Mr Carberry was involved in the rehabilitation of young offenders and I remember feeling sorry that no one rehabilitated him until he did what he did .
“John was only young and I loved him. He was a nice little boy and went everywhere in his boots.
“It was horrible for my mom and dad and they never got over it.”
Ms McLatchie, 69, said her brother’s fiancé, Mary Manley, recently passed away. His daughter Joan, born two months after his death, died eight years ago.
Carberry said he was only announcing his conviction on a “need to know” basis. He added that he had been advised to plead not guilty but now admits to the murder.
“I committed a terrible transgression, I am sorry,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of chances to go on record and I chose not to.
“And the first thing for me was that a mother had no son because of me, and a child had no father.”
In a 1999 interview with The Mail on Sunday, he said he had “tried to live a normal life and contribute to society in some way.”
Sarika Patel, chair of AfC’s trustees, said Carberry has never hidden its past and “helped support thousands of children and youth, including those involved in crime.”