Six IRA bomb suspects given 'comfort' letters face fresh police probe
free image hostingThe PSNI has reportedly launched new investigations into six key IRA suspects alleged to be behind some of the most notorious attacks of the Troubles - who received letters telling them they were not wanted by policeThe PSNI has reportedly launched new investigations into six key IRA suspects alleged to be behind some of the most notorious attacks of the Troubles - who received letters telling them they were not wanted by police.
The scheme saw around 200 fugitive republicans receive assurances that they were not wanted by UK authorities.
A political crisis was sparked after the collapse of the prosecution last year of John Downey for the Hyde Park bombing which killed four soldiers in 1982.
The Telegraph newspaper reported that detectives in Northern Ireland have found "six additional individuals whose circumstances have been identified as similar to the Downey case".
It almost brought Stormont down, with First Minister Peter Robinson threatening to resign.
Downey received one of the OTR letters in error when he was wanted by the Metropolitan Police. The Government has said it no longer stands by the letters.
The revelations came from a leaked police document which reportedly shows that detectives now believe these "comfort letters" do not protect suspects from prosecution.
The Telegraph said police in Northern Ireland have identified six individuals suspected of carrying out terrorist attacks, which are believed to have taken place both here and in England. The document does not give details of the six cases.
In a statement, ACC Will Kerr said: "The review of these cases is an ongoing processes. This does involve active criminal investigations and it would therefore be inappropriate to comment further at this stage."
It is understood that the comfort letters were given to suspects in the Harrods car bomb in 1983, which killed six and injured 90, and the 1987 Remembrance Day bombing in Enniskillen.
UUP MLA Tom Elliott welcomed the news. He said: "It is important that every possible avenue is taken to bring justice for the innocent victims in our society. No one should be above the law, and letters of comfort should not be allowed to prevent prosecutions."
Background
A judge-led review was requested by Prime Minister David Cameron to investigate how more than 200 people were told they were not wanted for paramilitary crimes as part of a peace process deal between Sinn Fein and Tony Blair's Labour government.
Lady Hallett said the scheme was not well publicised, and effectively kept "below the radar", but was not secret. Mr Blair said the letter should not have been issued to Mr Downey.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Police 'target key IRA suspects'
print screen windowsPolice are reportedly investigating six key IRA suspects who received letters telling them they were not wanted.
The Sunday Telegraph said they were alleged to be behind some of Britain's worst attacks.
The Government has said it no longer stands by the letters, drawn up under Tony Blair's administration as a peace process move.
It followed the collapse of the prosecution last year of John Downey for the Hyde Park bombing which killed four soldiers in 1982.
According to the Sunday Telegraph, officers have found "six additional individuals whose circumstances have been identified as similar to the Downey case".
The leaked police document shows that detectives now believe these "comfort letters" do not protect suspects from prosecution.
It discloses that police in Northern Ireland have identified six individuals suspected of carrying out terrorist attacks.
Mr Blair's Government sent about 200 letters to republicans assuring them they were not being pursued by the UK authorities following requests from Sinn Fein.
Mr Blair began the peace process scheme in 2000 which saw 95 of the so-called letters of comfort issued by the government to suspects linked by intelligence to almost 300 murders.
The plan was drawn up following pressure from Sinn Fein to allow the fugitives, who had they been in prison before 1998 would have been released under the Good Friday Agreement, to return to Northern Ireland.
An investigation was launched by MPs when the prosecution of Mr Downey for the murder of the soldiers at Hyde Park in 1982 was halted after he received one of the OTR letters in error when he was wanted by the Metropolitan Police.
Mr Blair apologised to Hyde Park victims but made no apology for sending letters to those who should have received them.
He took responsibility for the structural problems with the scheme, which developed from a small to a large number of cases over many years, and said the framework could have been better. A judge said had the issues been corrected they may have prevented the Hyde Park error.
Household Cavalry Lieutenant Anthony "Denis" Daly, 23, died in the explosion alongside Trooper Simon Tipper, 19, Lance Corporal Jeffrey Young, 19, and 36-year-old Squadron Quartermaster Corporal Roy Bright.
Mr Blair said the letter should not have been issued to Mr Downey.
ACC Will Kerr said: "The review of these cases is an ongoing process. This does involve active criminal investigations and it would therefore be inappropriate to comment further at this stage."
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Shankill bomb hero Raymond Elliott takes his secrets to the grave.
adult image sharingThe son of a west Belfast man who was honoured for his bravery in trying to rescue victims of the Shankill bomb said he was his family's as well as the community's hero.
Raymond Elliott (71) from Highfield died on Wednesday after suffering from long-term ill-health. He had never fully recovered from or talked about the horror he witnessed on October 23, 1993 when the IRA bombed Frizzell's fish shop on the Shankill Road, killing 10 people and injuring more than 50 others.
With no thoughts for his own safety, Mr Elliott spent hours digging through the rubble trying to save people.
He received the Royal Ulster Constabulary Award Certificate for his valour.
Diane Morrison - sister of Michael Morrison, one of those killed in the bomb along with his partner Evelyn Baird and seven-year-old daughter Michelle - said Mr Elliott had been a lifelong family friend and they would always be grateful to him for his efforts on the day of the bomb, and proud of him.
Mr Elliott's son Stephen last night told the Belfast Telegraph that his family were devastated at the loss of their "hero".
His father died on Wednesday morning, his son's 50th birthday, after struggling with ill-health.
"He had been ill from Christmas. He fought it all the way which was typical of my father, fought until his last breath," he said.
"My father didn't like talking about the bomb too much, he didn't want to upset my mum or any of the families of those who were killed, so he kept a lot in and it tortured him.
"Every time it came up to the anniversary of the bomb, he and my mum would get away from Belfast. They went to Portrush, Portstewart, Bangor, anywhere just to get away from it. It was too hard for him."
Mr Elliott said his father hated passing the site where the bomb had exploded as it upset him to think of people who he had not been able to save.
"He always had it in his head that if he had have been able to save just one person," he said.
"We tried to explain to him that there was nothing anyone could have done, but it haunted him."
Mr Elliott said his father was a different man after the bomb.
"Before that bomb went off he had been the life and soul of the party," he said. "After that bomb, we lost a part of him."
He said his father took solace in his family, especially the new lives coming into it.
"He loved his family, he especially loved having the grandchildren and great grandchildren about him, but he still wasn't the same as he was before that bomb," he said.
"He used to get these depressions. You knew when they were coming on."
Mr Elliott said his father is his hero, and also the hero of the grandchildren and great grandchildren.
"He cared a lot about people, if he saw anyone in trouble he would have helped them, that's just the way he was," he said. "He was our hero, he was the hero to a lot of people.
"The grandchildren kept him going, then the great grandchildren. They were his wee munchkins. They really miss him. We have got DVDs and articles about him getting his medals.
"They don't understand about the Troubles and what happened, but we have told them what he did and you see their wee faces light up, they are so proud of him."
Victims campaigner Willie Frazer described Mr Elliott as a friend, and said he will be sorely missed by the many affected by the Troubles who he had reached out to in the last decade.
"He had been through a lot," he said.
"He helped other victims a lot too, people often find it hard to talk, but Raymond seemed to have a way about him that he could talk to people who had been affected by trauma.
"He was a great help to other victims and he will be sorely missed."
Mr Elliott's funeral is set to take place from his daughter's house next Tuesday.
He is survived by his wife of 53 years Doreen, sons Jim and Stephen, daughter Eileen as well as 11 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Gerry Adams accused by shot man's sister in RTE documentary
20mb image hostingGerry Adams told the sister of a man left to bleed to death after a so-called punishment shooting that the IRA men behind it would not be reported to the police, it has been claimed.
Andrew Kearney was shot three times in the leg after a west Belfast bar brawl in which he punched an IRA man in 1998.
His sister Eleanor King is still seeking justice.
She has revealed in an RTE documentary about paramilitary attacks, Above The Law, how the Sinn Fein leader apologised privately for the IRA killing.
However, he refused to make it public.
"The first thing he told us was that he was extending an apology from the top of the republican movement," Ms King said.
Asked by Mr Adams what she wanted, Ms King said her mother requested the gunmen be handed over to the police and for justice to take its course.
"But I think at that stage he told her that it wouldn't happen," she said. "That they wouldn't be handed over but that they would deal out any discipline that was forthcoming from them."
Above The Law is on RTE One at 9.35pm tonight
