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Daily Ireland

Barrett’s generous relocation package for silence on state collusion

by Mick Hall
24/05/2006

The killer of Belfast lawyer Pat Finucane has been given a generous relocation package by the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) in return for his silence on the extent of state collusion, one of his would-be victims claimed last night.

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UDA gunman and British agent Ken Barrett was freed by the Sentence Review Commission yesterday after applying for early release under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.
It is understood he has been relocated to begin a new life in Britain.
Barrett had served nearly three years in Maghaberry prison after pleading guilty to murdering Mr Finucane, who was shot 14 times in his family home in north Belfast by a gang of UDA gunmen.
An investigation by metropolitan police commissioner, John Stevens, confirmed that several gang members were paid agents of British intelligence agencies, including the notorious Force Research Unit.
Barrett dramatically changed his plea to guilty during the last week of his trial at Belfast Crown Court in September 2004. He was jailed for a minimum of 22 years for a series of offences, including murder and attempted murder.
Belfast Sinn Féin councillor Alex Maskey was targeted by the UDA triggerman in June 1988 while he was having a meal at an Antrim Road hotel – one year before Mr Finucane’s murder.
Another British agent – Shankill Road intelligence officer Brian Nelson – contacted Barrett and told him of the Sinn Féin man’s location. By the time Barrett arrived at the hotel, Mr Maskey had already left.
In 1992 Nelson pleaded guilty to five counts of conspiracy to murder and was sentenced to ten years, after being exposed as a British agent by the Steven’s inquiry team in 1990.
Mr Maskey said Nelson – who was also involved in Mr Finucane’s murder – had been released under similar circumstances to Barrett. He told Daily Ireland that Barrett’s release had been a “further act of collusion” and that the British agent had been given a generous relocation package in exchange for his silence on the extent of the state’s nefarious activities.
Mr Maskey said: “Nelson had also changed his plea to guilty in the last stages of his trial and was released during the late 1990s. He was relocated and was given a substantial financial package.
“There is no reason to believe that Barrett hasn’t been given the same treatment.”

In this issue:

1. ‘Sitting in Stormont a denial of the H-Block hunger strikers’
2. More sectarian attacks in Garvagh
3. Mid-Ulster most at risk of low incomes
4. Hunger Strike Memorial erected in Dungiven
5. Closure of Grosvenor Barracks confirmed
6. ‘Ideals of hunger strike sold out’ - Ó Neill
7. Young loyalist victim is buried
8. British police accused of holding back sectarian statistics
9. Attempt to recruit Tyrone people as informers
10. UDR parade plan ‘will rub salt in wounds’
11. Damning Morris reports prompt new discipline code for gardaí
12. Inquiry into arrest of Rossiter father
13. Wheelock family attacked by 26-County police
14. Mellows motorbike on show
15. Irish Communist and veteran of Spanish Civil War dies at 88
16. Stena plan to change sea crews may spark dispute
17. US Congress votes for full Finucane investigation

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BN.ie

24/05/2006 - 12:52:02

Former Northern Ireland First Minister David Trimble gave the Metropolitan Police Commissioner the ammunition to have a terrorist-linked website closed down today.

Mr Trimble is pressing Ian Blair to take action to have the site linked to Omagh bombers the Real IRA closed after it carried what he said was clear incitement to have him murdered.

Last week he questioned Mr Blair on why no action had been taken to have the website of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement – regarded as the political wing of the Real IRA – shut months after British Prime Minister Tony Blair gave assurances to relatives of the Omagh victims that action would be taken.

Today Mr Trimble wrote again to the Commissioner including terms from the internet service provider (ISP) Netfirms’ contract with its customers.

He pointed Sir Ian to a paragraph of the contract about limitation which states: “Any content on your website that is prohibited by the laws of any sovereign state, obscene under the laws of any sovereign state, or otherwise considered by Netfirms, in its sole discretion, to be offensive, disruptive, obscene, inappropriate or otherwise an administrative burden, may be removed or deleted without any compensation to you.”

The former Ulster Unionist Party leader wrote to Sir Ian: “You might consider drawing to the attention of the ISP any matter which is contrary to the law of any part of the United Kingdom and inviting the ISP to terminate the contract in accordance with this paragraph.”

Netfirms is a Canadian-based internet provider but is also believed to operate through Glasgow and in the United States.

The Bush administration promised the Omagh families earlier this month that it would do what it could to help shut down the website which has offended them for so long.

Belfast Telegraph

Detective who opposed killer’s release warns of consequences

By Chris Thornton
24 May 2006

The detective who first tried to nail Pat Finucane’s UDA killer has warned that Ken Barrett, freed from jail yesterday, will make a return to crime.

Barrett was granted early release under the Good Friday Agreement despite objections by Secretary of State Peter Hain. It is believed he has fled to England.

He was let out of Maghaberry Prison yesterday after serving two years for the 1989 UDA murder - a killing allegedly carried out with the help of security forces.

The release left questions over whether Barrett will be available to give evidence to the public inquiry into the Finucane murder - or whether he will be a target from other killers.

Barrett, who once recounted details of the killing while being covertly filmed, had been ordered to serve a minimum of 22 years in prison.

But the Sentence Review Commission decided that Barrett qualified for the early release programme that has already seen scores of paramilitaries freed.

Retired RUC detective Johnston Brown - who tried to get Barrett arrested when he heard him confess months after the murder - opposed the release and testified for the NIO last week when the Commission considered the killer’s application for release.

Mr Brown, who once said he could feel the “presence of evil” in Barrett’s company, told the Commissioners that he believed he could return to crime - noting that the former UDA man had been finally caught when he went to work for English detectives posing as drug dealers.

“I respect the decision of the Commission,” Mr Brown said last night.

“They are decent people working with legislation that is abhorrent. It is that legislation that is letting Barrett out two years into a judicial sentence of 22 years.

“Let’s hope he keeps his nose clean - but I fear he won’t.”

The NIO is due to launch an inquiry into the Finucane murder, but is presently wrestling with the solicitor’s family about the terms for keeping national security material secret.

Former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lord Stevens declared that there was collusion in the killing, noting the role of several informers in the attacks.

Several of the participants in the killing are already beyond the reach of the inquiry - Army agent Brian Nelson, who helped set up Mr Finucane, died of natural causes and police informer William Stobie - the UDA quartermaster who supplied the guns - was murdered weeks after he was found not guilty of the murder.

Last Friday, US politicians called on the Government to hold an independent inquiry into Mr Finucane’s murder.

Members of the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation urging Prime Minister Tony Blair to widen its scope.

Belfast Telegraph

By Marie Foy
24 May 2006

The family of murdered solicitor Pat Finucane last night said their main focus was on securing the truth about his death after the release of his killer.

Mr Finucane’s eldest son Michael said: “The release of Ken Barrett was inevitable and although the timing is perhaps a little surprising, the event itself is not.”

The murder victim’s son said: “However, the significance of Mr Barrett should not be overestimated. The real focus for my family is to succeed in our campaign to have a fully independent, public judicial inquiry into the murder as agreed by the two governments at Weston Park in 2001.

“This is what we must achieve and it is also what successive British governments have refused to allow, including the present administration of Tony Blair with the help of his Secretary of State, Peter Hain.”

The Dublin-based solicitor said: “The case of Pat Finucane was a case where justice needs to be done and seen to be done,” he added.

Sinn Fein justice spokesman Gerry Kelly said the truth about the murder would only come out through an independent inquiry.

The North Belfast MLA said: “Nobody believes that the murder of Pat Finucane was planned, organised and carried out by loyalists from the Shankill acting alone.

“The case of Pat Finucane goes to the very heart of the British state policy of collusion with unionist paramilitaries.

“That is why successive British governments have sought to conceal the truth by continuing to stall the sort of investigation demanded by the Finucane family,” said Mr Kelly.

Nationalist SDLP justice spokesman Alban Maginness said the release of Ken Barrett by no means ended the controversy over the murder.

“Whatever Barrett’s role in the murder of Pat Finucane, it remains essential that the full truth behind the murder, the activities of the Forces Research Unit (FRU) and the approval for the FRU in and around government must be made public and acknowledged,” he said.

“The failure of Downing Street to honour its commitment to a public independent inquiry must be challenged, exposed and overturned.

“The family deserve and justice demands nothing less.”

Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey said he was shocked and surprised at Barrett’s release at this point in time.

“With such a particularly controversial murder, I think we haven’t heard the last of it.

“I have no doubt some people will feel because of the allegations linking him to members of the security forces that was the reason. I have no evidence that in fact was the case,” he said.

“I would have thought that people would be interested in an explanation and have no doubt that could probably be acquired through a parliamentary question.”

Former detective Trevor McIlwrath, who pursued Barrett for the murder, said: “It flies in the face of justice. Murderers are being allowed to walk the streets while former police officers and UDR and British Army soldiers are being pursued for lesser crimes.

“Does anyone think he is going to hang around for a public inquiry?”

Newshound

(by Suzanne Breen, Sunday Tribune)

The Dublin government is prepared to turn a blind eye if the UDA murder the Shoukri brothers in an act of “internal house-keeping”, sources have told the Sunday Tribune.

A Department of Foreign Affairs’ official in the North has suspended talks with the UDA for the past three weeks so the paramilitary group’s leadership can “deal” with the brothers, it has been claimed.

The Shoukris, who control the north Belfast UDA, are at loggerheads with the UDA’s south Belfast commander and de facto leader, Jackie McDonald, who is trying to expel them from the organisation.

The source said the UDA had told the Government it would try to avoid violence and not “do a Gray”, but the brothers, who are of Egyptian descent, were proving difficult to tame or shift. The UDA shot dead its former east Belfast commander, Jim Gray, last October.

“It’s still thought Jackie McDonald can resolve the situation peacefully but, if need be, the UDA leadership will take military action against the Shoukris,” the source said. “It would be politically embarrassing for the Government to be talking to the UDA while that happened, so dialogue has been suspended in order to cover all possibilities.

“But it will be resumed the minute the Shoukri situation is done and dusted. The Government hasn’t adopted a moral position on this, it’s just a case of manoeuvring so it’s not tainted if something eventually happens to the Shoukris.”

Jackie McDonald, who has a conviction for extortion, is a close friend of President McAleese’s husband, Martin. The source said the Department of Foreign Affairs’ official in the North, whose name is known to the Sunday Tribune, was in regular contact with McDonald and his representatives until three weeks ago.

The Independent Monitoring Commission says the UDA is still involved in shootings, beatings and crime. When asked if it was appropriate to negotiate with such an organisation, and whether talks had been cynically suspended in case there was an attack on the Shoukris, a Department of Foreign Affairs’ spokesman said: “It is our policy not to comment on issues of this nature.”

Loyalist sources still believe the UDA’s internal divisions can be resolved peacefully. The leadership has been conducting an internal investigation into claims the Shoukris extorted huge sums from Protestant businessmen and gambled over E1 million of UDA finances, including peace funding.

The Shoukris claim that they are being scapegoated and that other UDA figures are heavily involved in crime and drugs. When Andre Shoukri was jailed, he was replaced as north Belfast commander by his brother Ihab.

May 24, 2006
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This article appeared in the May 21, 2006 edition of the Sunday Tribune.

Newshound

(Seamus McKinney, Irish News)

A former republican prisoner has accused the Sinn Féin leadership of moving the party away from its roots.

Brian McFadden (53), a son of veteran Derry republican Barney, said the party was even closing its last remaining office in the city’s Bogside.

He claimed a growing number of former prisoners are becoming increasingly unhappy at the direction in which Sinn Féin is moving.

A member of a well-known republican family, Mr McFadden and three of his brothers are all former prisoners.

His father Barney McFadden was for decades the face of Sinn Féin in Derry and was frequently interned.

Mr McFadden said he felt compelled to speak out after Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams called on four republicans who failed to turn up at court to be sentenced for the abduction of Belfast man Bobby Tohill to give themselves up.

“I am worried Sinn Féin is determined to join the Policing Board and they have not realised that 25 years after the Hunger Strikes they still have not got the British government to admit we were prisoners of war,” Mr McFadden said.

“And those who are on the run still cannot come home.

“My four brothers were all in jail; my father was interned. Did we go through all that to make Sinn Féin a good political party? Where is the united Ireland?”

Mr McFadden claimed there was growing evidence that the leadership was moving further from its grassroots, with activists recently told of plans to close the party’s Cable Street centre and move operations to the Rath Mor Centre in Creggan and its Glen office.

This, he said, would leave the Bogside without a Sinn Féin office.

“In my eyes they have forgotten about the people. A lot of former prisoners are questioning what is going on,” Mr McFadden said.

But Sinn Féin general secretary Mitchel McLaughlin insisted there was no question of the party moving away from its roots.

“Brian is entitled to his opinion, the same as anyone else. If he has questions he can ask them of the party. A number of the leadership live in Derry and if there are concerns they are available to deal with them,” he said.

The Foyle assembly member said that while Sinn Féin was closing its Cable Street office, this was to ensure a better use of resources.

He said it was in need of major refurbishment and it made more sense to move services to the Rath Mor centre, which was close by.

May 24, 2006
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This article appeared first in the May 23, 2006 edition of the Irish News.

BBC

Ken Barrett was told he would spend at least 22 years in jail

One of the police officers who helped convict the murderer of Belfast lawyer Pat Finucane has said he continues to live in fear of the killer.

Ken Barrett was given a life sentence for the murder in 2004 and was told he would spend at least 22 years in jail.

He was released from Maghaberry prison on Tuesday after having served almost three years in jail.

Retired CID officer Trevor McIlwrath said Barrett had threatened to kill him and his ex-colleague Johnston Brown.

“Ken Barrett is a dangerous, dangerous man who has threatened to kill Detective Sergeant Brown and myself,” he said.

“That is a life sentence he has given us for the rest of our lives.

“We will be under threat from Ken Barrett and people like him who have been released into the community.”

Early release

It is understood Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain opposed Barrett’s release, but the Sentence Review Commission found in his favour.

The three-day hearing took place at Maghaberry last week to decide whether Barrett should be freed.

The commissioners had to assess whether he still had any connection to loyalist paramilitaries, and whether he posed a threat to the public.

As a prisoner in England, he did not qualify for early release under the Good Friday Agreement.

However, this changed when he was transferred to Maghaberry prison in February 2005, and he became eligible for early release.

it is understood Barrett left Northern Ireland shortly after being released from jail.

Pat Finucane was shot dead by the UDA in 1989 at his north Belfast home in front of his wife and family.

It was one of the most controversial murders of the Troubles, with allegations that members of the security forces colluded with loyalists.

The Finucane family is unhappy with an inquiry which is being set up to examine the murder.

They say that it will not be able to establish the truth as it is being held under the Inquiries Act.

Revelations that loyalists who were security force agents had been involved in the killing led to allegations of collusion.

Barrett featured in a BBC Panorama investigation into the killing, during which he was secretly filmed talking about his role in the murder.

IRISH REPUBLICAN NEWS

The British government is being urged to apologise to the Birmingham Six following the death of one of the six, Richard McIlkenny.

The 73-year-old Irishman was one of six Irishmen living in Birmingham who were wrongly sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975 amid a wave of anti-Irish hostility over the IRA campaign on the British mainland.

The British government has never apologised for jailing the men for 16 years or for torturing the men to extract false confessions.

Last year British prime minister Tony Blair apologised to the Guildford Four and seven others who were wrongfully jailed for bomb attacks in England in 1974.

Campaigners are now calling on Mr Blair to offer a similar apology to the surviving members of the Birmingham Six – Hugh Callaghan Paddy Hill, Gerry Hunter, Billy Power and Johnny Walker.

Mr Walker said the British prime minister should do the “decent thing” and apologise.

“It wouldn’t do any harm for Tony Blair to say sorry, especially in light of Richard’s death,” said Mr Walker.

“An apology won’t undo all the terrible things that were inflicted on us, but it would be nice for our families.

“That said, I don’t think he will apologise. Tony Blair had the chance last year when he said sorry to the Guilford Four. He didn’t apologise to us then and I really don’t believe in my heart of hearts he wants to
apologise to us.”

The Birmingham Six were arrested in November 1974 less than 48 hours after a wave of IRA acttacks. During their trial all six men told how their confessions had been beaten out of them, but the court did not believe them.

In August 1975 they were sentenced to life in prison on the basis of the false confessions. The men were denied the right to appeal and forced to wait until 1987 when their case was referred to the Court of Appeal, after new evidence emerged, before being rejected.

Public protests kept the case in the spotlight until August 1990 when forensic investigations showed their confessions had been tampered with.

In March 1991, their convictions were quashed and they were released after 16 years in jail onto the streets outside the Old Bailey in London.

Following his release Mr McIlkenny, who is originally from the Oldpark area of north Belfast, moved to Dublin. The grandfather is survived by his wife Kathleen, his daughters and his only son, who were all at his bedside on Sunday in the James Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown when he died. It is understood he had been battling cancer for some time.

Mrs McIlkenny said her husband never fully recovered after serving 17 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit. She said he drank heavily following his release and suffered a breakdown in 1995.

“Richard was a great person but you couldn’t really expect anyone to get over such an ordeal,” she said.

“It never seemed to leave him throughout the 15 remaining years of his life.”

Lawyer Gareth Peirce, who represented the Birmingham Six, described Mr McIlkenny as a “brave and dignified man”.