AFTER a 16 year fight, the claims by the former British army intelligence officer, Mr Colin Wallace, that he was the victim of a dirty tricks campaign were strengthened yesterday with the quashing of his conviction for manslaughter at the Court of Appeal in London.
Mr Wallace (53) has continually insisted he was framed for the murder of his friend Mr Jonathan Lewis, an antiques dealer, by MI5 agents because he exposed details of the British government's propaganda and disinformation campaign in Northern Ireland during the 1970s.
"The nightmare is over at last. I have no doubt at all that evidence was manufactured and manipulated at my trial. As to who was responsible, I don't know. The police have had evidence but suppressed it. For the last 16 years successive Home Office ministers have told MPs there is no reason to doubt the original evidence at the trial. We need a proper police explanation," Mr Wallace said.
During the 1970s Mr Wallace was officially a British army press officer in Northern Ireland, but after being sacked in 1975, for allegedly leaking a document to a journalist, he claimed his real job was to act as a propaganda intelligence officer.
Mr Wallace has persistently stated he was dismissed from the Ministry of Defence because he had exposed details of the British government's disinformation campaign, code named "Clockwork Orange", which he said was masterminded by MI5 against leading politicians in Britain and Northern Ireland.
The alleged targets included the then British prime minister, Mr Harold Wilson, the then Conservative Party leader, Sir Edward Heath, the Rev Ian Paisley and Mr John Hume.
His account was supported by Mr Peter Wright, a former MI5 officer, in his book Spycatcher, which described how rogue right wing agents in the secret service plotted against Mr Wilson.
Mr Wallace also believes he was sacked because he was threatening to publicise how the security forces had deliberately covered up systematic sexual abuse at the Kincora boys' home in Belfast.
In February 1990, the then British prime minister, Mrs Margaret Thatcher, admitted in the House of Commons that she had been misled over the existence of black propaganda operations by the security forces in Northern Ireland during the 1970s and ordered an investigation into the affair.
Mr Wallace's dismissal prompted a £30,000 compensation payout.