“I haven’t told the police. If I told the police now me or one of my family members or one of my children would get shot.
“Everyone thinks this has gone away. But it hasn’t.”
Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has been arrested over the murder of Mrs McConville.
Mr McConville said he saw who some of the men who took his mother were because some did not have masks on, and that he had seen them in the street on several occasions.
He said he and his siblings – including his twin brothers who were six at the time – had never spoken about who the people were or what happened.
Jean McConville with three of her children (PA)
He added: “It’s terrible from my point of view and my family’s point of view, we know these people and we can’t bring them to justice.”
Mrs McConville, 37 was dragged from her west Belfast home in Divis in 1972 and was known as one of the ‘Disappeared’, her body being found on a beach in August 2003.
The sons of Jean McConville carry her remains from St Pauls church on the Falls Road in October 2003 (Getty Images)
“I knew my mother was dead about two weeks later when an IRA man came and left her purse and wedding rings at the house,” Mr McConville added.
He said he and his siblings had clung onto their mother as the IRA gang barged into their home and abducted her, as she had previously been taken and was “in an awful state” after suffering a beating.
“Me and all my brothers and sisters were very distressed at the fact that these people had come again to do this to our mother when we saw the cuts and bruises my mother had from before,” he said.
A week later Mr McConville was also taken as he was on his way to see his grandmother.
He said a hood was put over his head and he was taken to a house and tied to a chair.
“They were beating me with sticks on my legs and arms.
Journalists wait outside the Antrim police station where Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams is being held (GETTY IMAGES)
“They had a gun to my head and told me they were going to shoot me.”
He said they then stuck a penknife in his leg.
Mr McConville added: “They said if you tell anyone about the IRA we will come back and shoot you or one of your family members.”
Mr McConville said it was difficult for him and his siblings as they were all split up and taken into care after their mother was taken. He only saw his younger brothers and sisters on about six occasions over the next ten years and there were still a lot of parts of their childhood they had all missed out on.
He said when he saw the people who took his mother his ‘blood boils’ but he hoped people understood why he could not tell anyone, even the police, their names.
He added: “I have a very young family and I do not want anything to happen to them.”
Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams was arrested on Wednesday night over the execution of Mrs McConville.
He has always denied being involved in her killing but former IRA members have claimed he directed the murder.
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