Former Tory Cabinet minister Norman Tebbit said he hopes Martin McGuinness is "parked in a particularly hot and unpleasant corner of hell for the rest of eternity".
The peer, whose wife Margaret was paralysed when the IRA bombed a Brighton hotel during the Conservative Party conference, said the world is a "sweeter and cleaner" place now the former deputy first minister is dead.
Lord Tebbit branded the former IRA commander a "coward" and insisted he had only turned to peace to "save his own skin".
READ MORE: Martin McGuinness: The IRA commander turned peacemaker who shook hands with Queen
He told the Press Association: "I'm just pleased that the world is a sweeter and cleaner place now.
"He was not only a multi-murderer, he was a coward.
"He knew that the IRA were defeated because British intelligence had penetrated right the way up to the Army Council and that the end was coming.
"He then sought to save his own skin and he knew that it was likely he would be charged before long with several murders which he had personally committed and he decided that the only thing to do was to opt for peace.
"He claimed to be a Roman Catholic.
READ MORE: Son of IRA bombing victim 'will always remember McGuinness as terrorist'
"I hope that his beliefs turn out to be true and he'll be parked in a particularly hot and unpleasant corner of hell for the rest of eternity."
The 1984 Brighton bombing of the Grand Hotel in the middle of the night killed five and left many injured.
Lord Tebbit said he refused to forgive Mr McGuinness for his terrorist past because "forgiveness requires confession of sins and repentance".
"There was none of that," he added.
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel