Police colluded with UVF, report confirms

Police Special Branch officers colluded with UVF gang members responsible for many murders in Belfast during the 1990s, according to a report compiled by Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan.

The report follows an investigation, codenamed "Operation Ballast", which was begun following representations by Raymond McCord.

His son, Raymond McCord jnr, was murdered in 1997, allegedly on the orders of the head of the UVF's Mount Vernon unit.

According to the report, published this morning, a number of senior officers -including two retired assistant chief constables, seven detective chief superintendents and two detective superintendents - refused to provide an explanation of Special Branch and CID internal practices during the period in question.

The report found that others, including some serving officers in the PSNI, gave "evasive, contradictory, and on occasion farcical answers to questions.

"On other occasions the investigation demonstrated conclusively that what an officer had told the Police Ombudsman's investigators was completely untrue," the report said.

However, although files have been sent to the DPP following the investigation, it is understood a recommendation has been made that no charges should be brought against any officers.

Mr McCord said his family were disappointed that prosecutions were not recommended and said he would continue his family's fight to for justice.

Mr McCord said: "This report is not the end of our struggle to get justice for young Raymond. It is the means by which we can go forward to get justice and uncover the truth so that these horrible deeds will never be allowed to happen again.

"To such ends whilst my family are disappointed that there would appear to be no criminal prosecutions against rogue police officers, we note the report recommendation to reinvestigate murders connected to this inquiry with optimism."

Mr McCord said he wanted those responsible for his son's death to be tried and imprisoned, adding that the policemen involved in the cover-up should also be prosecuted and imprisoned.

He also urged Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams not to endorse the PSNI in light of the report's findings.

Ahead of this morning's publication, Mrs O'Loan delivered a dossier, naming Special Branch and CID officers as well as the UVF agents they ran, to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Peter Hain and PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde.

The investigation was widened to examine ten murders and ten attempted murders during the 1990s.

The report says that the police investigation into the murder of Catholic taxi driver Sharon McKenna (27) in January 1993 "had the effect of protecting Informant 1 from possible prosecution."

"This is collusion,"  the report adds.

Mrs O'Loan's staff also investigated other killings, including the shooting in 2000 of loyalist Tommy English during a paramilitary feud, and Presbyterian Church Minister David Templeton, who died after being beaten at his home in 1997.

Northern Secretary Peter Hain acknowledged this morning that the report made "extremely uncomfortable reading" but insisted that policing in Northern Ireland had now changed.

He also ruled out Mr McCord's call for a public inquiry. Mr Hain said it would be unlikely that further investigation would reveal new evidence but that he expected some of the named officers to be prosecuted.

A spokesman for Tony Blair expressed the Prime Minister's "profound regret" but urged the poeple of Northern Ireland to support the PSNI, saying the collusion had happened in the past.

"This is a deeply disturbing report about events which were totally wrong and which should never have happened.

"What matters at this stage is that the whole community supports that process of transformation," the statement said.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said the report was "deeply disturbing" and praised Mr McCord's determination in pressing the issue.

"I applaud his single-minded determination and courage which helped ensure that the truth would be told and these grievous failures brought to light in a comprehensive and detailed way,"  the Taoiseach said.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern said the report was a "shocking exposé of the activities of loyalist paramilitaries and their relationship with the RUC Special Branch".

PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde expressed concern about Ms Loan's claim that she had not received adequate assitance from police in her inquiry and pledged to tackle the matter.

He also offered a "wholehearted apology for anything done or left undone."

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said Ms O'Loan's report confirms what the families of the "hundreds bereaved by collusion between British state forces and unionist death squads have been saying for years".

He said it was only "the tip of the iceberg" as it had only dealt with the impact of collusion in a "relatively small area and over a relatively short period of time".