Troubles pensions will not be received by those who have convictions for "serious crimes", including murder and actual bodily harm.

According to documents obtained by the BBC, which have allegedly been circulated to all the Stormont parties, guidelines have been established for a judge-led panel to assess individual pension applications from victims of the Troubles.

Applications can be rejected if material evidence demonstrates that the subject has been engaged in recent terrorist activity, is a registered terrorist offender, is a member of a listed organisation, or if they wholly or partly caused the incident in which they were injured.

The guidelines allegedly stated: "Where there is continuing disregard for the law as evidenced by recent convictions for offences other than minor ones, entitlement would be inappropriate."

The documents also listed mitigating factors, which the report said included demonstrations of remorse and restitution, having offended as a juvenile, whether psychological trauma contributed to offences, and the vulnerability of the victim.

Scheme members had been on course to receive a first annuity payment of between £2,000 and £10,000 at the end of May, but numerous disputes have delayed payments.

The Westminster and Stormont governments have each pushed for the other to fund the scheme, which is expected to cost the eventual sponsor in excess of £100m over the first three years.

Last week, Northern Irish (NI) political party, Sinn Féin, denied reported claims from the UK government that it was responsible for holding up pension payments to victims of the Troubles, arguing that Westminster was to blame as it had excluded victims that had served a prison sentence of two and a half years or more.

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