Lord Stevens to be witness at new inquest into murder

Lord Stevens to be witness at new inquest into murder
10 June 2011
The Irish News
Maeve Connolly

Lord Stevens and a brigadier who was in charge of a covert British military intelligence unit are to be called as witnesses at a new inquest into a 1988 loyalist murder.

Gerard Slane, a 27-year-old Catholic father-of-three, was gunned down at his home in west Belfast by a UFF gang believed to be acting on intelligence provided by double agent Brian Nelson.

Speaking yesterday the solicitor representing the Slane family claimed that material had been withheld from the original inquest.

Kevin Winters also called for Lord Stevens's full report into state collusion with loyalist paramilitaries to be made available to the legal team ahead of the new inquest which was ordered by attorney-general John Larkin QC.

He said the new inquest would provide an opportunity to examine "the role of Brian Nelson as an agent who worked directly and indirectly with the security forces".

Nelson's guilty plea at his 1992 trial meant much of the evidence was never heard.

Brigadier Gordon Kerr, who was in charge of the British army's Force Research Unit at the time of the killing, told the Stevens Inquiry there was nothing the unit could have done to prevent it.

Mr Slane's family said yesterday they always believed there had been collusion between the security forces and loyalists in his murder.

Teresa Slane, speaking yesterday with her son Gerard and daughter Catriona by her side, claimed an army patrol had passed outside her Waterville Street home five minutes before her husband was gunned down in the early hours of September 23 1988.

Mr Winters, who said the family had waited more than 20 years for the inquest which still may not take place for another two years, said: "In the interests of justice and discovering the reality and truth of what happened that's a wait that's worth it."

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has called for the British government to cooperate with the new inquest.

"The formal and informal use of collusion involving British state forces and unionist paramilitaries was widespread," he said.

"The Brian Nelson case provides one detailed example of how it worked at an administrative and institutional level."