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10-20-2007, 08:29 AM
In this issue:
1. RSF oppose British warships in Waterford
2. RSF slam RUC/PSNI invite to St Columb's
3. RSF CONDEMN CRAIGAVON RAIDS
4. School bus targeted in sectarian attack
5. Poots rules out Irish language act
6. Trouble 'linked to UDA feuding'
7. Baby targeted in UDA gun attack
8. Man given 22 years for sectarian attack
9. RUC/PSNI did not intervene as loyalist thugs beat up nationalists
10. Hugh Orde under pressure to find Pearse Jordan’s killer
11. ‘Hand over shoot-to-kill reports’
12. Stalker to give evidence on shoot-to-kill policy
13. MI5 takes over intelligence gathering in Six-Counties
14. Family demand apology from British army over killing
15.
1. RSF OPPOSE BRITISH WARSHIPS IN WATERFORD
REPUBLICAN Sinn Féin picketed a British warship docked in Waterford on October 14, a second British warship departed earlier that day. RSF members from Waterford, Kilkenny, Wexford and Kildare staged a two-hour picket, local people showed their support for the picket, taking leaflets whilst passing motorists on the busy Waterford quay honked their horns.
In a statement Republican Sinn Féin Vice President Des Dalton said: “The presence of two British warships in Waterford is part of the ongoing campaign to normalise British rule in Ireland, selling the lie that British occupation is accepted and that the national question has been resolved.
“The lesson of Irish history is that whilst British rule in Ireland remains there can be no basis for a just and lasting settlement. British rule is the root cause of conflict in Ireland and will never be regarded as either normal or acceptable in any part of our country.
“A public British government declaration of intent to withdraw from Ireland is a necessary first step to creating the conditions within which all of the Irish people can begin the process of building a New Ireland based on the principles of All-Ireland democracy as set out in Republican Sinn Féin’s ÉIRE NUA programme.”
2. RSF SLAM RUC/PSNI INVITE TO ST COLUMB'S
IN A statement on October 12 Republican Sinn Féin in Derry criticised St Columb's College for inviting the RUC/PSNI to its careers’ fair.
Ard Chomhairle member Richard Walsh, himself a past pupil of St Columb’s, said it was an “outrage” that the police had been invited to the event.
Richard Walsh said it was “inappropriate” that the British colonial should be invited to a school with nationalist pupils.
He added: “The British police’s attitude towards the nationalist and Republican communities was clearly seen a week ago in Shipquay Street when they batoned young people. Now we have a school inviting the same force to its careers fair. It is outrageous.
“This school has a long tradition in this city and I myself attended St Columb’s, as did my uncle and grandfather. I was very annoyed to hear the police had been invited and I am sure many other past pupils would oppose it, too,” he said.
A spokesperson for St Columb’s College declined to comment.
3. RSF CONDEMN CRAIGAVON RAIDS
BRITISH colonial police maintained a presence overnight on estates in Co Armagh after coming under attack following a series of searches and arrests as part of a campaign of harassment directed against Republicans.
Youths threw stones and petrol bombs at the RUC/PSNI during intermittent disturbances on October 11 on the Drumbeg estate in Craigavon.
Roads around the estate and the nearby Meadownbank estate were closed by the British colonial police.
Attempts were made to hijack a lorry and a bus on Brownlow road.
Nine people who were arrested were held for several days. At Antrim RUC/PSNI barracks, one man was subsequently charged whilst a file on another was sent to the Six-County Public Prosecution Service (PPS)
Munitions and a firearm were seized according to the RUC/PSNI. In August similar raids by the British colonial police also led to riots.
In a statement Richard Walsh, a member of the Ard-Chomhairle of Republican Sinn Féin and PRO for Comhairle Uladh (Ulster Executive), said that Republican Sinn Féin had learnt that the British colonial police went out of their way to assault and harass those present, and to damage property.
“Cutters were used to enter houses without giving the occupants any opportunity to answer their doors. A pensioner was knocked down a flight of stairs, and a pregnant woman was locked in a cold room. The woman had to be hospitalised as a result of her ordeal at the hands of the RUC, and our thoughts are with her at this time. Searches were also carried out on children's toys and nappies, and a pond was drained and excavated killing all the fish living in it. One hundred copies of the Republican Movement’s monthly newspaper, Saoirse, were also seized.
He added that, contrary to claims in the media that the British military presence had been scaled down, low-flying helicopters were continuing to fly throughout the night, harassing the local community with search-lights.
Richard Walsh also criticised the SDLP's Dolores Kelly for remarks she had made in the aftermath. “Ms. Kelly should be advised that it is the actions of people like herself which are putting people at risk. She is a renowned British propagandist and an apologist for the British Forces of Occupation. Each time the Nationalist population of North Armagh are attacked by the RUC and their cohorts she launches into a tirade against those who believe in the right to National self-determination.
“Dolores Kelly does not believe in due process even under the auspices of her beloved foreign British law. On every occasion she seeks to imply 'guilt' on the part of those arrested, despite the fact that they are often subsequently released and certainly have not been convicted of having engaged in any action proscribed by the English government.”
He added that the actions of “her friends in the British Crown Forces will only increase the resolve of all true Republicans to finally expel the British from our country. These are the forces that are engaged in serious terrorist crime in Ireland.”
4. SCHOOL BUS TARGETED IN SECTARIAN ATTACK
A SCHOOL bus taking children home was bombarded with stones and other missiles in what was believed to be a sectarian attack in the Waterside.
Two of the vehicles' windows were shattered during the attack on Monday afternoon but none of the passengers was hurt. The Translink bus, which was taking children from St. Columb's College to their Waterside homes, was making its way along Rossdowney Road when it was targeted by youths throwing missiles.
A spokesperson from Translink confirmed that the attack had taken place and said there had been no injuries.
5. POOTS RULES OUT IRISH LANGUAGE ACT
STORMONT Culture Minister Edwin Poots of the Democratic Unionist Party on October 16 ruled out introducing an Irish Language Act that would enshrine the rights of Irish speakers in the Six Counties.
Despite conceding that most respondents to a public consultation on the issue were in favour of such an act, Minister Poots insisted legislation would prove too costly. He told Stormont members there also was not sufficient political consensus to bring an Irish Language Bill forward.
The Irish Language Act was promised to the Provos by the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the St Andrew's talks in 2006 and touted by them as a major concession.
6. TROUBLE 'LINKED TO UDA FEUDING'
UDA supporters tried to kill the alleged leader of a rival loyalist faction during weekend trouble in Carrickfergus, on October 13/14 a court has been told.
The claim was made as five men from the town aged between 22 and 44 appeared in Belfast Magistrates Court.
Two of them face an attempted murder charge. Other charges include assault, affray, possession of a drug and having an offensive weapon.
The men denied the charges and claimed they were attacked. Bail was refused. During the hearing, one of the men verbally abused an RUC/PSNI detective who said he could connect them to all 15 charges.
Opposing bail, he said there was a fear they could become involved in further fighting between rival factions of the UDA.
On the same weekend a leading loyalist claims he was subjected to a death-threat by a rival UDA faction.
Beyond Conflict representative John McDowell claims he cheated death after he escaped from an armed man during a night of violence in the Castlemara Estate, Carrickfergus.
Leading south-east Antrim loyalist Thomson Gilmore received hospital treatment after he was attacked and a number of homes were also targeted during the trouble. McDowell, whose group represents the breakaway south-east Antrim UDA, blamed men with links to the mainstream UDA for issuing threats against him.
A spokesman for the UDA's so-called 'inner council' denied its members were responsible for the murder-bid.
7. BABY TARGETED IN UDA GUN ATTACK
A COUPLE and their baby were targeted on October 10 in a gun attack on their Carrickfergus, Co Antrim home.
The family were asleep when three shots were fired through a window of their house at Drumhoy Drive, in Sunnylands estate. No-one was injured.
The attack was believed to be linked to a feud between the mainstream Ulster Defence Association and a breakaway faction in south-east Antrim.
He said there had been an “ongoing situation” since an RUC/PSNI member was shot in the nearby Castlemara estate in July.
“We have had a catalogue of incidents ranging from low-level intimidation to shootings and pipe bombings throughout that three-month period. We are getting sick of it here in Carrickfergus,” he said.
8. MAN GIVEN 22 YEARS FOR SECTARIAN ATTACK
A MAN was jailed for 22 years in Belfast for what the judge described as the most vicious sectarian attack the court had encountered in recent years.
In October 2003 Michael Reid, a Catholic visiting a Protestant friend in Ballymena, was seriously assaulted by three other men who had discovered he was a Catholic.
He was stabbed sixteen times, beaten with a heavy object, and strangled with a telephone cable.
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As he lay on the kitchen floor, Michael Reid pretended to be dead, during which time he heard his assailants talk about getting a saw to cut up his body to dispose of it.
When two of the attackers left to get the saw, Michael Reid escaped from the house.
For his part in the attack, 35 year old Aaron White was sent to prison for 22 years. His brother Neil White is already serving a sixteen-year term for the attempted murder.
The judge said the offence was so serious he had considered imposing a life sentence on Aaron White.
9.
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RUC/PSNI DID NOT INTERVENE AS LOYALIST THUGS BEAT UP NATIONALISTS
CCTV images of attacks on three nationalist men by loyalists in the centre of Portadown showed an RUC/PSNI Land Rover pass by without intervening on October 13.
The footage - currently being examined by the British Police Ombudsman shows:
An attacker smashing a bottle over a young man's head.
A youth being repeatedly beaten and kicked by 10 loyalists after being knocked to the ground. One of the loyalist gang filmed stamping on a head.
A British colonial police Land Rover drove past the seat of the trouble and parked 80 yards away while both incidents were seen on two CCTV cameras.
The CCTV footage has led to claims that the RUC/PSNI did not respond quickly enough and that the incident was reminiscent of the fatal attack on nationalist man Robert Hamill in Portadown in May 1997.
An eye witness, who did not wish to be named, described the incident as “terrifying” and said it brought back memories of the Hamill case.
10. HUGH ORDE UNDER PRESSURE TO FIND PEARSE JORDAN’S KILLER
RUC/PSNI chief Hugh Orde is under pressure to reveal the whereabouts of the former RUC sergeant who shot Pearse Jordan in the back.
The unarmed Ballymurphy man was running away after his car was rammed by the RUC on the Falls Road near the Whiterock junction in November 1992 when he was shot three times. He died a short time later.
The inquest into the 23-year-old’s death has been delayed for 15 years because of a ruling allowing the shooter not to attend.
However, the RUC member – known only as ‘Sergeant A’ – could now be forced to attend following a landmark decision by Coroner John Leckey.
John Leckey said he wants to hear Pearse Jordan’s inquest in February – and he wants Sergeant A to attend.
But the problem the Jordan family now face is that the RUC/PSNI says it does not know the whereabouts of the killer.
The only information John Leckey has been given is that the former RUC member is “out of the jurisdiction”. It has also emerged that the only contact the Six-County Coroner has for Sergeant A is the telephone number of a friend.
Pearse Jordan’s father, Hugh Jordan, has questioned the inability of the RUC/ PSNI to find the RUC member who killed his son.
He said: “I find it very hard to believe that the PSNI do not know where this man is.
“Is the PSNI saying that this man is not receiving a police pension?
“We have been fighting for justice for Pearse for 15 years and we’ll go on for another 15 years if that is what it takes.”
Victims’ group Relatives for Justice group has been a tireless supporter of the Jordan family’s fight for truth.
Director Mark Thompson also called on Hugh Orde to make Sergeant A’s whereabouts known to the Six-County Coroner.
He said: “It is imperative this man appears at the inquest and is cross-examined.
“In the past police officers were able to submit written statements, not show up and thereby avoid cross-examination.
“This is no longer the case and hopefully, 15 years on, we can have a proper inquest into Pearse’s killing.”
11. ‘HAND OVER SHOOT-TO-KILL REPORTS’
CONTROVERSIAL reports into “shoot-to-kill” deaths should be released by the RUC/PSNI chief constable, the Six-County senior coroner said on October 9.
John Leckey formally requested that Hugh Orde hand over the Stalker and Sampson reports into British Crown Force killings for the inquests to proceed.
He was speaking at a preliminary inquest into the deaths, which took place more than 25 years ago.
He said he could see no reason why the reports could not be released to him.
The inquests are into the November 1982 deaths of IRA men Sean Burns, Eugene Toman and Gervaise McKerr near Lurgan, County Armagh.
British colonial police fired 109 bullets into the car they were travelling after they claimed it crashed through a checkpoint.
John Leckey also plans inquests into the death of nationalist teenager Michael Tighe, shot dead by the RUC at a hay shed near Craigavon, County Armagh in November 1982, and suspected INLA men Roddy Carroll and Seamus Grew, shot dead near Armagh in December 1982.
The Six-County coroner on the October 9 hearing he was asking the legal representatives of the RUC/PSNI “to confirm that I, my team and Mr Stalker and his team will be provided with access to the Stalker Report and that I, my team and Sir Colin Sampson will be provided with access to the Sampson Report”.
Following a recent Belfast High Court ruling on another “shoot to kill” death, John Leckey said: “I see no reason why I should not now be provided with access to both reports.”
He said “an investigation of the repercussions of disclosure” was being undertaken.
Former Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police Sir John Stalker was brought in to investigate. He was later replaced by Colin Sampson, Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police.
12. STALKER TO GIVE EVIDENCE ON SHOOT-TO-KILL POLICY
JOHN Stalker, the former British police chief who investigated the killings of three IRA men in the 1980s, will be called to give evidence in public by an inquest into the ‘shoot-to-kill’ deaths.
Stalker has been called before the inquest into the 1982 shootings of Gervais McKerr, Eugene Toman and Seán Burns, which opened in Belfast. It is the first time that Stalker - whose report into the shooting dead of six people in the Six-Counties by an undercover RUC unit has never been made public - has been asked to give evidence into the controversial shootings.
Stalker was asked to investigate the killings in the mid-1980s, but was removed from the inquiry as he was poised to receive vital information which would have clarified if the British government had instituted a shoot-to-kill policy in the Six Counties.
After Stalker was removed from the investigation he was the subject of a series of allegations that effectively ended his police career. All of the allegations were subsequently disproved.
“I will go over [to Belfast] when the request comes,” Stalker said. “It is very hard for me to comment because I don’t want to do anything that will jeopardise myself.”
It has also emerged that the RUC/PSNI has only located a copy of Stalker’s report in recent days.
‘‘Am I surprised that it took all these months to locate a report which has been in their possession for the best part of 25 years? Yes, a little, to say the least,” said Stalker.
Three RUC men were charged with murdering the unarmed IRA men in the 1980s, but all three were acquitted and the trial judge said the dead men had been ‘‘taken to the final court of justice’’.
13. MI5 TAKES OVER INTELLIGENCE GATHERING IN SIX COUNTIES
MI5 took control of British intelligence and so-called security in the Six-Counties for the first time on October 10. RUC/PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde handed over control to the British intelligence agency, which is opening a new £20 million office near Belfast.
The transfer of powers took place at midday on October 10, his office confirmed. A spokesperson added: “All the necessary service level agreements are in place and this step brings the Police Service of Northern Ireland into line with the arrangements in all other UK police services.”
The handover has been on the cards for some time as part of the re-structuring of the British military occupation of the Six Counties. But it means that for the first time in the history of the Six-County State, MI5 will have the lead role in intelligence gathering, which will range from international terrorism to targeting Irish Republicans.
A staff of at least 200 will work out of the new offices inside Palace Barracks, a British military base at Holywood, Co Down, which are expected to be fully operational by the end of November. The building will also serve as a back-up to MI5's London HQ, Thames House.
MI5 has operated in the Six-Counties for many years and it has been linked to several murders -- including the shooting in February 1989 of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane -- through the use of loyalist death squads and informers.
14. FAMILY DEMAND APOLOGY FROM BRITISH ARMY OVER KILLING
THE family of a father-of-two shot dead by the British army in north Belfast 35 years ago called on the British army to apologise for his killing.
Michael Hayes was 27 when he was shot around nine times in the upper body and legs by members of a British army Royal Marine patrol near his home in Spamount Street on October 1, 1972.
The British soldiers claimed Michael Hayes, who was married with two sons, aged two and three, was a gunman but no residues were found on him to suggest he had been firing a weapon.
He was coming home from a night out at a social club to raise money for a minibus at Edmund Rice Christian Brothers School in Pim Street when he was shot. A postmortem examination said that he had a high concentration of alcohol in his blood. The killing was investigated by the British army’s Royal Military Police but the Six-County director of public prosecutions recommended no further action to be taken.
His widow Rita received compensation of £25,000.
Michael Hayes's son Fra said on October 1 the family had long looked for answers as to why he was killed.
“I met [then British direct-rule minister] Angela Smith at the Wave Trauma Centre three years ago and she told me she would get me an apology but later I got a letter telling me she couldn't do anything,” he said.
A spokesman for the British army said they would not comment on the case. Eddie Connor, Michael Hayes's brother-in-law, who was with him at the social club on the evening of his death, recalled the confusion following the murder.
“There was a rumour going about that my other brother-in-law Paddy Murphy had been shot as his social club card was found in Mickey's pocket. Then we realised it was Mickey,” Eddie Connor said.
“He was an innocent victim – just an ordinary guy who was married with a small family. He had bought a house in Spamount Street and was building up a home.”
Michael Hayes was a dock labourer for the manager of the docks and a member of the docks committee of the Transport and General Workers' Union.
“The docks all stopped for his funeral and it was the biggest funeral which ever left New Lodge Road. He was very, very well respected and a hard worker,” Eddie Connor said.
He said a major from the British army’s Royal Marines visited Michael Hayes's mother on the Sunday evening after her son's death was confirmed.
“He came up the stairs and apologised to Mickey's mother. He put his arms around her and said he was really, really sorry for what happened. We thought it was only a matter of time before it came out that they had made a mistake, especially with the major coming to the house, which was unheard of.
“But after that, they said Mickey was a gunman – so you have to say to yourself, the powers that be closed ranks.”
The family received papers from the Six-County Court Service from the inquest into Michael Hayes's death – Eddie Connor said witness statements from the soldiers involved are faded and hard to read, in comparison to other papers.
“Sometimes I think about it as a still pond. When you throw a pebble into it, people see the initial splash but not the vibrations out of what happened,” he said. “It was hard watching the boys grow up but their mother did a fantastic job with her kids and she deserves credit for anything that's happened to them.”
The family said they have “no faith” in the Historical Enquiries Team which is due to investigate Michael Hayes's murder.
“We want it investigated by someone independent, not a load of ex-RUC men,” Eddie Connor said.
ENDS
1. RSF oppose British warships in Waterford
2. RSF slam RUC/PSNI invite to St Columb's
3. RSF CONDEMN CRAIGAVON RAIDS
4. School bus targeted in sectarian attack
5. Poots rules out Irish language act
6. Trouble 'linked to UDA feuding'
7. Baby targeted in UDA gun attack
8. Man given 22 years for sectarian attack
9. RUC/PSNI did not intervene as loyalist thugs beat up nationalists
10. Hugh Orde under pressure to find Pearse Jordan’s killer
11. ‘Hand over shoot-to-kill reports’
12. Stalker to give evidence on shoot-to-kill policy
13. MI5 takes over intelligence gathering in Six-Counties
14. Family demand apology from British army over killing
15.
1. RSF OPPOSE BRITISH WARSHIPS IN WATERFORD
REPUBLICAN Sinn Féin picketed a British warship docked in Waterford on October 14, a second British warship departed earlier that day. RSF members from Waterford, Kilkenny, Wexford and Kildare staged a two-hour picket, local people showed their support for the picket, taking leaflets whilst passing motorists on the busy Waterford quay honked their horns.
In a statement Republican Sinn Féin Vice President Des Dalton said: “The presence of two British warships in Waterford is part of the ongoing campaign to normalise British rule in Ireland, selling the lie that British occupation is accepted and that the national question has been resolved.
“The lesson of Irish history is that whilst British rule in Ireland remains there can be no basis for a just and lasting settlement. British rule is the root cause of conflict in Ireland and will never be regarded as either normal or acceptable in any part of our country.
“A public British government declaration of intent to withdraw from Ireland is a necessary first step to creating the conditions within which all of the Irish people can begin the process of building a New Ireland based on the principles of All-Ireland democracy as set out in Republican Sinn Féin’s ÉIRE NUA programme.”
2. RSF SLAM RUC/PSNI INVITE TO ST COLUMB'S
IN A statement on October 12 Republican Sinn Féin in Derry criticised St Columb's College for inviting the RUC/PSNI to its careers’ fair.
Ard Chomhairle member Richard Walsh, himself a past pupil of St Columb’s, said it was an “outrage” that the police had been invited to the event.
Richard Walsh said it was “inappropriate” that the British colonial should be invited to a school with nationalist pupils.
He added: “The British police’s attitude towards the nationalist and Republican communities was clearly seen a week ago in Shipquay Street when they batoned young people. Now we have a school inviting the same force to its careers fair. It is outrageous.
“This school has a long tradition in this city and I myself attended St Columb’s, as did my uncle and grandfather. I was very annoyed to hear the police had been invited and I am sure many other past pupils would oppose it, too,” he said.
A spokesperson for St Columb’s College declined to comment.
3. RSF CONDEMN CRAIGAVON RAIDS
BRITISH colonial police maintained a presence overnight on estates in Co Armagh after coming under attack following a series of searches and arrests as part of a campaign of harassment directed against Republicans.
Youths threw stones and petrol bombs at the RUC/PSNI during intermittent disturbances on October 11 on the Drumbeg estate in Craigavon.
Roads around the estate and the nearby Meadownbank estate were closed by the British colonial police.
Attempts were made to hijack a lorry and a bus on Brownlow road.
Nine people who were arrested were held for several days. At Antrim RUC/PSNI barracks, one man was subsequently charged whilst a file on another was sent to the Six-County Public Prosecution Service (PPS)
Munitions and a firearm were seized according to the RUC/PSNI. In August similar raids by the British colonial police also led to riots.
In a statement Richard Walsh, a member of the Ard-Chomhairle of Republican Sinn Féin and PRO for Comhairle Uladh (Ulster Executive), said that Republican Sinn Féin had learnt that the British colonial police went out of their way to assault and harass those present, and to damage property.
“Cutters were used to enter houses without giving the occupants any opportunity to answer their doors. A pensioner was knocked down a flight of stairs, and a pregnant woman was locked in a cold room. The woman had to be hospitalised as a result of her ordeal at the hands of the RUC, and our thoughts are with her at this time. Searches were also carried out on children's toys and nappies, and a pond was drained and excavated killing all the fish living in it. One hundred copies of the Republican Movement’s monthly newspaper, Saoirse, were also seized.
He added that, contrary to claims in the media that the British military presence had been scaled down, low-flying helicopters were continuing to fly throughout the night, harassing the local community with search-lights.
Richard Walsh also criticised the SDLP's Dolores Kelly for remarks she had made in the aftermath. “Ms. Kelly should be advised that it is the actions of people like herself which are putting people at risk. She is a renowned British propagandist and an apologist for the British Forces of Occupation. Each time the Nationalist population of North Armagh are attacked by the RUC and their cohorts she launches into a tirade against those who believe in the right to National self-determination.
“Dolores Kelly does not believe in due process even under the auspices of her beloved foreign British law. On every occasion she seeks to imply 'guilt' on the part of those arrested, despite the fact that they are often subsequently released and certainly have not been convicted of having engaged in any action proscribed by the English government.”
He added that the actions of “her friends in the British Crown Forces will only increase the resolve of all true Republicans to finally expel the British from our country. These are the forces that are engaged in serious terrorist crime in Ireland.”
4. SCHOOL BUS TARGETED IN SECTARIAN ATTACK
A SCHOOL bus taking children home was bombarded with stones and other missiles in what was believed to be a sectarian attack in the Waterside.
Two of the vehicles' windows were shattered during the attack on Monday afternoon but none of the passengers was hurt. The Translink bus, which was taking children from St. Columb's College to their Waterside homes, was making its way along Rossdowney Road when it was targeted by youths throwing missiles.
A spokesperson from Translink confirmed that the attack had taken place and said there had been no injuries.
5. POOTS RULES OUT IRISH LANGUAGE ACT
STORMONT Culture Minister Edwin Poots of the Democratic Unionist Party on October 16 ruled out introducing an Irish Language Act that would enshrine the rights of Irish speakers in the Six Counties.
Despite conceding that most respondents to a public consultation on the issue were in favour of such an act, Minister Poots insisted legislation would prove too costly. He told Stormont members there also was not sufficient political consensus to bring an Irish Language Bill forward.
The Irish Language Act was promised to the Provos by the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the St Andrew's talks in 2006 and touted by them as a major concession.
6. TROUBLE 'LINKED TO UDA FEUDING'
UDA supporters tried to kill the alleged leader of a rival loyalist faction during weekend trouble in Carrickfergus, on October 13/14 a court has been told.
The claim was made as five men from the town aged between 22 and 44 appeared in Belfast Magistrates Court.
Two of them face an attempted murder charge. Other charges include assault, affray, possession of a drug and having an offensive weapon.
The men denied the charges and claimed they were attacked. Bail was refused. During the hearing, one of the men verbally abused an RUC/PSNI detective who said he could connect them to all 15 charges.
Opposing bail, he said there was a fear they could become involved in further fighting between rival factions of the UDA.
On the same weekend a leading loyalist claims he was subjected to a death-threat by a rival UDA faction.
Beyond Conflict representative John McDowell claims he cheated death after he escaped from an armed man during a night of violence in the Castlemara Estate, Carrickfergus.
Leading south-east Antrim loyalist Thomson Gilmore received hospital treatment after he was attacked and a number of homes were also targeted during the trouble. McDowell, whose group represents the breakaway south-east Antrim UDA, blamed men with links to the mainstream UDA for issuing threats against him.
A spokesman for the UDA's so-called 'inner council' denied its members were responsible for the murder-bid.
7. BABY TARGETED IN UDA GUN ATTACK
A COUPLE and their baby were targeted on October 10 in a gun attack on their Carrickfergus, Co Antrim home.
The family were asleep when three shots were fired through a window of their house at Drumhoy Drive, in Sunnylands estate. No-one was injured.
The attack was believed to be linked to a feud between the mainstream Ulster Defence Association and a breakaway faction in south-east Antrim.
He said there had been an “ongoing situation” since an RUC/PSNI member was shot in the nearby Castlemara estate in July.
“We have had a catalogue of incidents ranging from low-level intimidation to shootings and pipe bombings throughout that three-month period. We are getting sick of it here in Carrickfergus,” he said.
8. MAN GIVEN 22 YEARS FOR SECTARIAN ATTACK
A MAN was jailed for 22 years in Belfast for what the judge described as the most vicious sectarian attack the court had encountered in recent years.
In October 2003 Michael Reid, a Catholic visiting a Protestant friend in Ballymena, was seriously assaulted by three other men who had discovered he was a Catholic.
He was stabbed sixteen times, beaten with a heavy object, and strangled with a telephone cable.
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As he lay on the kitchen floor, Michael Reid pretended to be dead, during which time he heard his assailants talk about getting a saw to cut up his body to dispose of it.
When two of the attackers left to get the saw, Michael Reid escaped from the house.
For his part in the attack, 35 year old Aaron White was sent to prison for 22 years. His brother Neil White is already serving a sixteen-year term for the attempted murder.
The judge said the offence was so serious he had considered imposing a life sentence on Aaron White.
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RUC/PSNI DID NOT INTERVENE AS LOYALIST THUGS BEAT UP NATIONALISTS
CCTV images of attacks on three nationalist men by loyalists in the centre of Portadown showed an RUC/PSNI Land Rover pass by without intervening on October 13.
The footage - currently being examined by the British Police Ombudsman shows:
An attacker smashing a bottle over a young man's head.
A youth being repeatedly beaten and kicked by 10 loyalists after being knocked to the ground. One of the loyalist gang filmed stamping on a head.
A British colonial police Land Rover drove past the seat of the trouble and parked 80 yards away while both incidents were seen on two CCTV cameras.
The CCTV footage has led to claims that the RUC/PSNI did not respond quickly enough and that the incident was reminiscent of the fatal attack on nationalist man Robert Hamill in Portadown in May 1997.
An eye witness, who did not wish to be named, described the incident as “terrifying” and said it brought back memories of the Hamill case.
10. HUGH ORDE UNDER PRESSURE TO FIND PEARSE JORDAN’S KILLER
RUC/PSNI chief Hugh Orde is under pressure to reveal the whereabouts of the former RUC sergeant who shot Pearse Jordan in the back.
The unarmed Ballymurphy man was running away after his car was rammed by the RUC on the Falls Road near the Whiterock junction in November 1992 when he was shot three times. He died a short time later.
The inquest into the 23-year-old’s death has been delayed for 15 years because of a ruling allowing the shooter not to attend.
However, the RUC member – known only as ‘Sergeant A’ – could now be forced to attend following a landmark decision by Coroner John Leckey.
John Leckey said he wants to hear Pearse Jordan’s inquest in February – and he wants Sergeant A to attend.
But the problem the Jordan family now face is that the RUC/PSNI says it does not know the whereabouts of the killer.
The only information John Leckey has been given is that the former RUC member is “out of the jurisdiction”. It has also emerged that the only contact the Six-County Coroner has for Sergeant A is the telephone number of a friend.
Pearse Jordan’s father, Hugh Jordan, has questioned the inability of the RUC/ PSNI to find the RUC member who killed his son.
He said: “I find it very hard to believe that the PSNI do not know where this man is.
“Is the PSNI saying that this man is not receiving a police pension?
“We have been fighting for justice for Pearse for 15 years and we’ll go on for another 15 years if that is what it takes.”
Victims’ group Relatives for Justice group has been a tireless supporter of the Jordan family’s fight for truth.
Director Mark Thompson also called on Hugh Orde to make Sergeant A’s whereabouts known to the Six-County Coroner.
He said: “It is imperative this man appears at the inquest and is cross-examined.
“In the past police officers were able to submit written statements, not show up and thereby avoid cross-examination.
“This is no longer the case and hopefully, 15 years on, we can have a proper inquest into Pearse’s killing.”
11. ‘HAND OVER SHOOT-TO-KILL REPORTS’
CONTROVERSIAL reports into “shoot-to-kill” deaths should be released by the RUC/PSNI chief constable, the Six-County senior coroner said on October 9.
John Leckey formally requested that Hugh Orde hand over the Stalker and Sampson reports into British Crown Force killings for the inquests to proceed.
He was speaking at a preliminary inquest into the deaths, which took place more than 25 years ago.
He said he could see no reason why the reports could not be released to him.
The inquests are into the November 1982 deaths of IRA men Sean Burns, Eugene Toman and Gervaise McKerr near Lurgan, County Armagh.
British colonial police fired 109 bullets into the car they were travelling after they claimed it crashed through a checkpoint.
John Leckey also plans inquests into the death of nationalist teenager Michael Tighe, shot dead by the RUC at a hay shed near Craigavon, County Armagh in November 1982, and suspected INLA men Roddy Carroll and Seamus Grew, shot dead near Armagh in December 1982.
The Six-County coroner on the October 9 hearing he was asking the legal representatives of the RUC/PSNI “to confirm that I, my team and Mr Stalker and his team will be provided with access to the Stalker Report and that I, my team and Sir Colin Sampson will be provided with access to the Sampson Report”.
Following a recent Belfast High Court ruling on another “shoot to kill” death, John Leckey said: “I see no reason why I should not now be provided with access to both reports.”
He said “an investigation of the repercussions of disclosure” was being undertaken.
Former Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police Sir John Stalker was brought in to investigate. He was later replaced by Colin Sampson, Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police.
12. STALKER TO GIVE EVIDENCE ON SHOOT-TO-KILL POLICY
JOHN Stalker, the former British police chief who investigated the killings of three IRA men in the 1980s, will be called to give evidence in public by an inquest into the ‘shoot-to-kill’ deaths.
Stalker has been called before the inquest into the 1982 shootings of Gervais McKerr, Eugene Toman and Seán Burns, which opened in Belfast. It is the first time that Stalker - whose report into the shooting dead of six people in the Six-Counties by an undercover RUC unit has never been made public - has been asked to give evidence into the controversial shootings.
Stalker was asked to investigate the killings in the mid-1980s, but was removed from the inquiry as he was poised to receive vital information which would have clarified if the British government had instituted a shoot-to-kill policy in the Six Counties.
After Stalker was removed from the investigation he was the subject of a series of allegations that effectively ended his police career. All of the allegations were subsequently disproved.
“I will go over [to Belfast] when the request comes,” Stalker said. “It is very hard for me to comment because I don’t want to do anything that will jeopardise myself.”
It has also emerged that the RUC/PSNI has only located a copy of Stalker’s report in recent days.
‘‘Am I surprised that it took all these months to locate a report which has been in their possession for the best part of 25 years? Yes, a little, to say the least,” said Stalker.
Three RUC men were charged with murdering the unarmed IRA men in the 1980s, but all three were acquitted and the trial judge said the dead men had been ‘‘taken to the final court of justice’’.
13. MI5 TAKES OVER INTELLIGENCE GATHERING IN SIX COUNTIES
MI5 took control of British intelligence and so-called security in the Six-Counties for the first time on October 10. RUC/PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde handed over control to the British intelligence agency, which is opening a new £20 million office near Belfast.
The transfer of powers took place at midday on October 10, his office confirmed. A spokesperson added: “All the necessary service level agreements are in place and this step brings the Police Service of Northern Ireland into line with the arrangements in all other UK police services.”
The handover has been on the cards for some time as part of the re-structuring of the British military occupation of the Six Counties. But it means that for the first time in the history of the Six-County State, MI5 will have the lead role in intelligence gathering, which will range from international terrorism to targeting Irish Republicans.
A staff of at least 200 will work out of the new offices inside Palace Barracks, a British military base at Holywood, Co Down, which are expected to be fully operational by the end of November. The building will also serve as a back-up to MI5's London HQ, Thames House.
MI5 has operated in the Six-Counties for many years and it has been linked to several murders -- including the shooting in February 1989 of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane -- through the use of loyalist death squads and informers.
14. FAMILY DEMAND APOLOGY FROM BRITISH ARMY OVER KILLING
THE family of a father-of-two shot dead by the British army in north Belfast 35 years ago called on the British army to apologise for his killing.
Michael Hayes was 27 when he was shot around nine times in the upper body and legs by members of a British army Royal Marine patrol near his home in Spamount Street on October 1, 1972.
The British soldiers claimed Michael Hayes, who was married with two sons, aged two and three, was a gunman but no residues were found on him to suggest he had been firing a weapon.
He was coming home from a night out at a social club to raise money for a minibus at Edmund Rice Christian Brothers School in Pim Street when he was shot. A postmortem examination said that he had a high concentration of alcohol in his blood. The killing was investigated by the British army’s Royal Military Police but the Six-County director of public prosecutions recommended no further action to be taken.
His widow Rita received compensation of £25,000.
Michael Hayes's son Fra said on October 1 the family had long looked for answers as to why he was killed.
“I met [then British direct-rule minister] Angela Smith at the Wave Trauma Centre three years ago and she told me she would get me an apology but later I got a letter telling me she couldn't do anything,” he said.
A spokesman for the British army said they would not comment on the case. Eddie Connor, Michael Hayes's brother-in-law, who was with him at the social club on the evening of his death, recalled the confusion following the murder.
“There was a rumour going about that my other brother-in-law Paddy Murphy had been shot as his social club card was found in Mickey's pocket. Then we realised it was Mickey,” Eddie Connor said.
“He was an innocent victim – just an ordinary guy who was married with a small family. He had bought a house in Spamount Street and was building up a home.”
Michael Hayes was a dock labourer for the manager of the docks and a member of the docks committee of the Transport and General Workers' Union.
“The docks all stopped for his funeral and it was the biggest funeral which ever left New Lodge Road. He was very, very well respected and a hard worker,” Eddie Connor said.
He said a major from the British army’s Royal Marines visited Michael Hayes's mother on the Sunday evening after her son's death was confirmed.
“He came up the stairs and apologised to Mickey's mother. He put his arms around her and said he was really, really sorry for what happened. We thought it was only a matter of time before it came out that they had made a mistake, especially with the major coming to the house, which was unheard of.
“But after that, they said Mickey was a gunman – so you have to say to yourself, the powers that be closed ranks.”
The family received papers from the Six-County Court Service from the inquest into Michael Hayes's death – Eddie Connor said witness statements from the soldiers involved are faded and hard to read, in comparison to other papers.
“Sometimes I think about it as a still pond. When you throw a pebble into it, people see the initial splash but not the vibrations out of what happened,” he said. “It was hard watching the boys grow up but their mother did a fantastic job with her kids and she deserves credit for anything that's happened to them.”
The family said they have “no faith” in the Historical Enquiries Team which is due to investigate Michael Hayes's murder.
“We want it investigated by someone independent, not a load of ex-RUC men,” Eddie Connor said.
ENDS