‘My son is not a drug dealer’

‘My son is not a drug dealer’ - dad 6 May 2012 Derry Journal The father of a Derry man who was shot at his St Johnston home by Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD) this week has said he has no idea why his son was targeted. James Curtis, 39, was shot four times in front of his partner, while his seven-month old child slept upstairs. Two men burst their way into his Legnatraw home outside the village and shot him in both arms...

Continue Reading... Labels: 2012, James Curtis, RAAD, St Johnston

Six could face charges after school paedophile ring probe

Six could face charges after school paedophile ring probe Independent Greg Harkin 21 April 2012 UP to six men could face charges as a result of an investigation into an alleged paedophile ring linked to a school scandal, the Irish Independent has learned. The inquiry was ordered last year by Justice Minister Alan Shatter after this newspaper revealed that Donegal man Michael Ferry was given his job back as a caretaker at an...

Continue Reading... Labels: 2012, Donegal, Michael Ferry, paedophiles

Smithwick tribunal told spymasters could have averted double murder

Smithwick tribunal told spymasters could have averted double murder Ex-intelligence officer claims IRA squad which shot top RUC officers was riddled with British agents Henry McDonald Guardian 11 September 2011 A written statement that claims up to a quarter of the IRA gang involved in the killing of two top Ulster policemen were British agents has been handed to a tribunal investigating collusion between terrorists and the security...

Continue Reading... Labels: 2011, FRU, Informers, IRA, Royal Ulster Constabulary, Scappaticci, Stakeknife

Orde will only compete if he thinks he can win

20 July 2011 Belfast Telegraph Could Northern Ireland's former Chief Constable become the new head of the Metropolitan Police? Brian Rowan examines his case Who knows where that policing and political storm sweeping London is going to blow next? The phone-hacking scandal has battered the News of the World, blown it away, and toppled big figures in high places, among them the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson....

Continue Reading... Labels: 2011, Collusion, Finucane

Former IRA members in 'deadly' new terror group

Former IRA members in 'deadly' new terror group John Mooney 10 July 2011 The Sunday Times SECURITY services in Northern Ireland suspect that former members of the Provisional IRA have set up a terrorist organisation funded by a global smuggling operation. The paramilitaries, said to number about 150, include gunmen and bombmakers, but senior police officers say there may be hundreds more sympathisers providing support. The group,...

Continue Reading... Labels: 2011, CIRA, Informers, MI5, Oglaigh na hEireann, PSNI, Real IRA

Vilifying lawyers defending a 'killer' is a dangerous trend

8 July 2011 Guardian Unlimited Fiona Bawdon Media disgust with QC who cross-examined Dowler family is a blurring of lines that can lead to personal attacks on lawyers Jeffrey Samuels QC was vilified by parts of the media after his cross-examination of the parents of Milly Dowler during the trial that ended with the murder conviction of his client, Levi Bellfield. Lawyers acting for murder defendants do not expect to win many...

Continue Reading... Labels: 2011, Collusion, Finucane

Incompetent policing is not same as conspiracy

24 June 2011 Belfast Telegraph Comment The RUC investigation of the 1994 Loughinisland massacre was deeply flawed, the Police Ombudsman will say. But it's too easy to trot out the catch-all 'collusion', argues Alan Murray By any objective criteria, the RUC investigation into the Loughinisland massacre was a woeful piece of police work, according to Al Hutchinson's report. The Police Ombudsman's critique of the CID investigation...

Continue Reading... Labels: 2011, Collusion, Finucane, Rosemary Nelson

The Loughinisland Report - Role of Special Branch notable by absence after 5-year probe

23 June 2011 The Irish News Barry McCaffrey If the police ombudsman was accused of a reluctance to grapple with the issue of collusion when examining the McGurk's Bar atrocity, his report on Loughinisland is also notable for the absence of another crucial piece of the picture: the role of Special Branch both before and after the massacre. Al Hutchinson states that he studied all "available intelligence" connected to the killings...

Continue Reading... Labels: 2011, Collusion, Finucane, Rosemary Nelson

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...

Continue Reading... Labels: 2011

Cables 'have only scratched surface'

6 June 2011 Belfast Telegraph JOHN MULGREW OVER the past week the Belfast Telegraph exclusively revealed a raft of sensational insights regarding Northern Ireland's political system from thousands of secret US cables from the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks. Journalists from both the Belfast Telegraph and Irish Independent spent hundreds of hours trawling through more than 7,000 A4 pages amounting to 2.4m words in a three-month...

Continue Reading... Labels: 2011, Collusion, Finucane