Tag: County Tyrone

Doubts over ballistic tests

BALLISTICS tests on the gun used to kill pensioner Roseann Mallon were done by RUC Special Branch officers who might not have been properly qualified, an inquest has heard.

Ms Roseann Mallon (76), was gunned down as she watched television at her home in Dunngannon, Co Tyrone, on May 8 1994.

The Czech-bought assault rifle, now linked to 11 other murders and two attempted murders, was first examined at the Weapons and Explosives Research Centre (Werc) – a previously unheard of unit located within the Northern Ireland Forensic Science Laboratory, the court was told. Mr Justice Weir, who is hearing the long-awaited inquest, said: “This is the first time it has ever come to my attention that there was a forensic system.” Ms Mallon (76) was gunned down as she watched television at a house near Dungannon, Co Tyrone on May 8 1994. The spinster, who had been staying with relatives because she felt vulnerable, was unable to escape when two loyalist gunmen indiscriminately opened fire on the bungalow on Cullenrammer Road.

The UVF said its mid-Ulster brigade had been responsible (although it was widely beleived to be members of Billy Wright‘s LVF gang) and were targeting two of her nephews Christopher Mallon, who was not home at the time and Martin Mallon who lived half a mile away. In the wake of the shooting, British army spying equipment was found in a nearby field sparking claims of security force collusion. Last week it emerged that the Historical Enquries Team (HET) – a specialist unit set up to re-examine Troubles-related cold cases – had linked the murder weapon to the UVF killings of Charles and Theresa Fox at the Moy, Co Armagh, in 1992, as well as the murders of John Quinn, Dwayne O’Donnell, Malcolm Nugent and Tommy Armstrong outside a bar in Cappagh, Co Tyrone in 1991. But, Barry McDonald QC, who is representing the Mallon family, said the rifle was now known to have been involved in at least eight incidents that resulted in 11 murders and two attempted murders.

COLLUSION = STATEMURDER

He said inaccurate information that the gun had no previous previous history was fed into the the system by Special Branch. Mr MacDonald said: “The practice seems to have been when cartrige cases were collected they were forwared to the Forensic Science Laboratory of Northern Ireland but it was the Werc who conducted their investigations and provided a steer. “The upshot is that these incorrect conclusions have been made by a section of Special Branch in circumstances where the object of this entire exercise – that’s this inquest – is to allay suspicion and rumour about the involvement of Special Branch.” Judge Weir told the court he had never heard of Werc despite a lengthy career as a defence barrister and judge. He also expressed concern that they were not ballistics experts and said he would be demanding a full explanation on how they operated and who took the decision to conceal their existence. Martin Mallon said the family had been left bemused by the latest revelations. He said: “We have had Special Branch hiding behind screens, we have heard evidence about burning notebooks and items being destroyed. We have consistently heard about Special Branch being a force within a force and now it appears that Werc was unit within a unit. Notorious killer Billy Wright and two other loyalists were arrested and questioned about Ms Mallon’s murder but no-one has ever been convicted. Sinn Fein MLA Sean Lynch, who sits on the Stormont justice committee and is a Mallon family friend, said: “It is obvious that the British state is covering up, delaying and prevaricating on vital evidence – particularly around ballistics.” The inquest has now been adjourned until May to allow the HET to complete its investigation into 24 murders in the East Tyone area between 1988 and 1994 – including Ms Mallon’s murder.

With many thanks to: The Irish News.

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Female inmate ‘forcibly strip searched’

BRITAIN STILL ABUSES IRISH REPUBLICAN WOMENSecond woman missed hospital appointment after refusing to remove clothes campaigners say.

REPUBLICAN prisoner campaigners have claimed a forced strip has been

out on a female republican inmate at Hydebank Wood Prison.

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Sharon Rafferty, of Cavana Linn in Pomeroy, was forced to remove her clothes before and after making a court appearance in Omagh, Co Tyrone, last month. Supporters say the 38-year-old refused to take off her cloths voluntarily female prison officers forcibly removed them down to her underwear. Ms Rafferty is facing charges relating to republician paramilitary activity in Co Tryone. Since her arrest in May last she has been detained on a separated wing at Hydebank Wood Prison on the outskirts of Belfast. It has also emerged that a second republican prisoner, Christine Connor, missed a hospital appointment last month after refusing to be strip searched. The 27-year-old is facing two counts of attempted murder and possession of pipe bombs in relation to an attack on the PSNI in North Belfast in May. The Irish News understand both wimen have indicated they will not voluntarialy submit to strip searches in furture.

On Wednsday night Mandy Duffy from the Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association (IRPWA) sais Ms Rafferty felt like she had been “sexually assaulted” after the search. “She feels very strongly she should not have to remove her clothing,” she aid. The prisoner campagner says Ms Connor will also continue to resist strip searches. “Christine feels she is being denied the right to medicial treatment which is a basic human right,” she said. “She is on medication and needs to see a specialist.” The last high-profile female republican prisoner to be subjected to strip searches is believed to be Roisin McAliskey – daughter of former Mid Ulster MP Bernadette McAliskey – who was searched more than 70 times while pregnant in custody awaiting extradition to Germany in connection with an IRA mortar attàck in 1996. She was released wîthout charge in 1998.

I VOTE FOR JUSTICE

In November last year male republican prisoners in Maghaberry Prison ended an 18-month no-wash protest sparked by a number of complaints about the jail regime, including the use of strip searches. A spokesman for the Department of Justice (DOJ) said: “The Prison Service Full Search Policy for women prisoners has developed a two stage full search procedure. A stage one search requires the woman to remove her outer clothin; however she would not be requied to remove her underwear. If staff have suspicions or intelligence has been received to suggest that the woman could be concealing items in her underwear she would be required to proceed to a level two search. “This would require her to remove the clothing from her top half of her body, including her underwear. When dressed she would remove the clothing from the bottom half of her body, including her underwear. While we cannot comment on specific individuals, at no stage has a level two search been deployed in Ash House in recent weeks as is being claimed in some quarters.”

With many thanks to : Connla Young, The Irish News.

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BID TO MAP REMAINS OF ULSTER PLANTATION

Culture minister Caral Ni Chuilin said she was “delighted work has begun on the important historical dig”

A TEAM of archaeologists are attempting to map the archaeological remains of the Ulster Plantation. Excavations have begun at a 17th-century castle at Baronscourt, Newtownstewart, in Co Tyrone.

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It was built by Sir James Hamilton of Greenlawe, Scotland. Documentary sources date its construction and occupation by the Hamilton family to 1622. Even before the pivotal 1607 ‘flight of the earls’, King James 1 granted the earldom of Abercorn to the Scottish Hamilton family. In 1606, James became the first real and his brothers Sir George and Sir Claus were granted lands in the barony of Strabane, Co Tyrone. It is there that the castle at Derrywonne was built. The present duke of Abercorn granted permission for the excavation on his estate. Lead archaeologist Nick Brannon beleives the castle began as a domestic, rather than defensive, building but under threat of attack, an additional tower with pistol loops was built on to protect it.

English: James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn ...
English: James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn (1811-1885) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The ambitious three-year programme will see research excavations specifically targeting nearly 700 sites and monuments associated with Scottish Planters. It is founded by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure on the recommendation of the ministerial advisory group for the Ulster Scots Academy, established in 2011 to advise on how best to promote research, knowledge and understanding of Ulster-Scots language, history and cultural traditions. Culture minister Caral Ni Chuilin said she was “delighted work has begun on this important historical dig”. “Evidence of a shared inheritance based on authentic research is an important element in building a united community for the future,” she said.

With many thanks to : Bimpe Archer, Irish News.

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‘UNION MEMBERS DEEPLY UNHAPPY’ AT PRICE MOTION

‘This type of motion can only cause division and is the last thing Nipsa needs – Ross Hussey.

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A MOTION calling for the release of prominent republican Marian Price due to come before the Nipsa conference has been criticised by the UUP. West Tyrone MLA and policing board member Ross Hussey said he had been contacted by Nipsa members who were “deeply unhappy” at the motion.

Mr Hussey described it as a “deeply regrettable situation” which could “cause decision”. “I have been contacted by a number of Nipsa members who are deeply unhappy at Motion No 13 in the conference handbook which states ‘Conference demands the immediate release of Marian Price’. “The motion goes on to call for the Nipsa general council ‘to campaign for the immediate release of Marian Price on humanitarian grounds’. “This is deeply regrettable situation. Nipsa is a highly respected trade union which draws its members from right across the province and from all sections of our society. “This type of motion can only cause division and is the last thing which Nipsa needs.” Then secretary of state Owen Paterson revoked her life sentence licence at Easter 2011 after Price was charged over a dissident republican rally in Derry. She is also facing seperate charges of providing a mobile phone for a terrorist purpose in March 2009 shortly before two soldiers were shot dead at Massereene barracks. The 58-year-old has been receiving treatment for depression, arthritis and lung problems, while kept in hospital under armed guard.

With many thanks to : Maeve Connolly, Irish News.

This letter also appeared in the Irish News today Friday May 17 2013.

Two years incarceration and still no justice for Marian.

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THIS week marks the entry into the third year Marian Price is interned without trial and is incarcerated on the word of a British Secretary of State. Where is the justice in this maltreatment of a defenceless woman whose health has deterioted to a level thatt she is almost unable to function as a person? Her incarceration in solitary confinement is responsible for this deterioration – firstly in Maghaberry, then Hydebank and now in hospital. Health professionals have revealed home care packages to treat Marian in a humane way and to date the British government has refused to grant her that humanity.

The long, drawn.out process in recent times still has not revealed an outcome. Fifteen years on from signing of the British agreement the treatment of Marian Price and others exposes that the injustice suffered at the hands of the British establishment hasn’t gone away. The analysis of the Irish people throughout our history that there is no British justice in Ireland is epitomised again with this deliberate maltreatment. Marian Price should be released immediately on humanitarian grounds due tonton the state of her health but she should also be released as a right because the spurious charges against her are not proven and innocent until proven guilty has gone out the door. Marian Price is serving a sentence of inhumane treatment for the past two years and yet is not sentenced to a single day in jail. Where is the justice ?

With many thanks to : Francis Mackey, Omagh, Co Tyrone.

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‘ MI5/MI6 LEFT ME TERRIFIED IN BID TO MAKE ME AN INFORMER ‘ !

” They offered me money and said they could help with my mortgage and help get me to Australia.

THE nephew of a prominent Co Tyrone republican has said he has been left ” terrified ” after attempts were made to rrecruit him as an informer while he worked in England. Emmet McElhatton, of Kildress, near Cookstown in Co Tyrone, has said he will never return to England to work again after claiming he was approached by MI5/MI6 officers four times in the space of a week last month.

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The 21-year-old is a nephew off well known republican Kevin Murphy. Mr McElhatton said he had been approached in London on March 18 by a man and woman as he walked to a shop the day after arriving in the city to start work as a plumber. The Tyrone man said that during a series of attempts to recruit him MI5/MI6 officers had mentioned his uncle and also the republican ex-prisoner Damien McLaughlin whose early.release licence was revoked last month by Secretary of State Theresa Villiers.” They offered me money and said they could help me with my mortage and help get me to Australia,” Mr McElhatton said. ” I told him I wasn’t interested.” Mr McElhatton said that a day later he had received two calls to his mobile phone from people he beleived were MI5/MI6 officers. ” They had Northern accents but I think they were MI5/MI6,” he said. ” He rang me on the phone twice and again offered me money. ” I was walking through the house with the phone and he told me to come to the door so he was obviously watching me. ” This scared me and it meant I couldn’t even go out of the house to the shop. ” Work is scarce and I went out there to earn a living but now I can’t go back.”

Mr McElhatton said that when returning home from England on March 27, officials at Belfast International Airport had stopped him and ” pushed ” him into a room where he was meet by two men – one of whom had previously approched him in England. ” I kept asking could I leave and they said ‘ no’, he said. ” They were very rash and angry and used a lot of bad language. ” They offered me money and they said they could help me get to Australia. ” At one stage my phone in my pocket went off and I turned it off. ” One of the men demanded my phone and when I wouldn’t give it to him he twisted my arm behind my back. ” In the end they said : ‘ Are you willing to help us ?’ ” I said ‘ no ‘ and one of them said : ‘ The next time you see us we will be wearing forensic suits ‘. ” It was really frighting.” Mr McElhatton said he beleived he was being tergeted because of his relative. ” I am not politically involved in anything,” he said. ” I think I am being targeted because of my family background. ” The whole experience was terrifying, knowing I am being watched, my phone calls tracked and being followed.” Mr McElhatton’s solicitor Peter Corrigan said they would sue MI5/MI6 under the European Convention on Human Rights. ” We will be taking action against MI5/MI6 for an invasion of his privacy under article 8 of the European Convention,” he said. ” They were disturbing him while he went about his bussiness and work in London. This is improper policing.” Ulster Unionist Policing Board member Ross Hussey said attempts to recruit informers were legitimate in a bid to prevent dissident republicans taking lives. ” We have a severe dissident threat and that is visible to everybody. I understand people being approached,” he said.

With many thanks to : Connia Young, Irish News.

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HIGH-PROFILE REPUBLICANS HONOUR MURDERED INLA BOSS AND HIS WIFE

Colin Duffy reads a tribute at the unveiling of a new headstone for former INLA leader Dominic McGlinchey in Bellaghy last year


A COMMEMORATION to murdered INLA chchief Dominic McGlinchey and his wife Mary was held in Bellaghy on Saturday. High-profile republicans – including Colin Duffy who a dressed last years event – were among those at the event in the Co Derry town.

The McGlincheys ‘ granddaughter read out the Proclamation while a grandson read an open letter to his grandparents before former IRA prisoner Anthony McIntyre gave the main address. McIntyre, from West Belfast but living in Co Louth, said he was ” honered ” to attend the event. He said the couple had left a ” politicial legacy “. ” When we depart from here this evening we will not be leaving the graves of two criminals but the final resting place of two Irish Republican political activates who through circumstances not created by them took up arms to confrount the armed repression of the British state,” he said. During the commemoration a statement was read out by Co Tyrone republican Kevin Murphy on behalf of dissident republicans prisoners in Maghaberry’s Row 4 landing. Prisoners are unhappy that talks aimed at ending forced strip searchs in the prison have failed to materialise since they now ended a ‘ no wash ‘ protest last November. The protest ended just weeks after a group styling itself ‘ the IRA ‘ shot dead prison officer David Black as he made his way to work at Maghaberry Prison. ” The jail adminstration’s lack of willingness to engage with this process in a way that is genuine and effective only poisons the atmosphere and recreates the conflict-fulled envioronment that exsisted in the past,” the statement read.

With many thanks to : Connia Young, Irish News.

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DISSIDENT EX-PRISONER HAS RELEASE LICENSE REVOKED

Tough new approach by NIO

” The government will not hesitate to use all the powers at its disposalaccder the law to counter the residual terrorist threat ” – Mike Penning.

A FORMER Republican prisoner accused of supplying a car to the killers of prison officer David Black has had his release licence revoked. Damien McLaughlin (36) from Kilmascally Road, Ardboe, in Co Tyrone was told last week that his governmentrelease from prison, where he had served a sentence for firearms offences, has been overturned.

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It is believed  to be the first time a former republican prisoner convicted of an offence committed after the Provisional IRA‘s 1994 ceasefire has had their release licence revoked. McLaughlin is on remand in Maghaberry Prison charged in connection with the shooting of Mr Black by dissident republicans last November. He is accused of being involved in transporting a car belived to have been used in the attack into the from Co Litrim. McLaughlin denies the charge of ‘ preparation of a terrorest-act ‘. Mr Black, a father-of-two, died after gunmen opened fire on his Audi car as he drove to work at Maghaberry Prison.The attack took place on the M1 near Lurgan, Co Armagh. A group styling itself ‘ the IRA ‘ later admitted responsability for the attack. In 2011 McLaughlin was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for weapons offences dating back to 2009. He pleaded guilty to possessing two rifles, a sawn-off shotgun and ammuntion. He also admitted having two silencers, a magazine and two telescopic sights. The haul was discovered in a rucksack liner in the boot of his car which was parked outside the house where he lived at the time. He was released later in 2011 on conditation he serve the remainder on probatition and after serving some time on remand. In September last year he received a suspended jail sentence after being convicted of damaging his cell at Maghaberry Prison during a republican prison protest.

A spokesman for the Northern Ireland Office said the decision to revoke McLaughlin’s release licence was taken after a recommendation from the Parole Commissioners for Northern Ireland that ” he poses a risk of harm to the public which can no longer be safely managed in the community “. NIO junior minister Mike Penning, who revoked the licence on behalf of Secretary of State Teresa Villiers said : ” The government will not hesitate to use all the powers at its disposal under the law to counter the residual terrorist threat.” Mr McLaughlin’s solicitor Peter Corrigan said his client will ” be challenging the legality of the revocation “. UUP justice spokesman Tom Elliot defended the move. ” At this particular time there is a suspected connection with a serious incident which is murder and obviously they need to take all reasonable precautions in those cases,” he said. Two other republicans, Marian Price-McGlinchey and Martin Corey , are also being held in prison after having their release licences revoked. Price (58) was originally jailed for her part in the 1973 Old Baily bombing and released in 1980. However, her relese licence was revoked in 2011 by then Secretary of State Owen Paterson. Corey (63) from Lurgan in Co Armagh was convicted of killing two RUC men in11973 and released from prison in 1992. His licence was revoked in April 2010, again by Owen Paterson.

With many thanks to : Connia Young, Irish News.

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Suspect accuses police as McAreavey trial underway again

One of the men charged with murdering Michaela McAreavey alleges that police tried to suffocate him with a towel and held his head in a bucket of water while he was interrogated, a court in Mauritius heard today.

Avinash Treebhoowoon, 30, confessed to police about his involvement in strangling the daughter of Tyrone football boss Mickey Harte, but now insists he was forced to sign the statement.

His lawyer Sanjeev Teeluckdharry repeated a complaint his client made to court authorities in the days after the death in January last year.

The accused said he was beaten in the face and on the heels.

Reading his client’s statement, Mr Teeluckdharry said: “I was made to suffocate in a towel.”

He said on one occasion officers filled a bucket of water.

“I was on a chair, I was gripped by the neck and placed in that pail of water,” read his lawyer.

Treebhoowoon, 30, and co-accused Sandip Moneea, 42, deny murdering the 27-year-old teacher on her honeymoon at the Legends Hotel.

The court heard that Treebhoowoon was not wearing an anti-contamination suit when he was taken to the crime scene for a reconstruction three days after the murder.

Police officers who attended the exercise in room 1025 of the Legends Hotel were also not in protective clothing, a police photographer told the island’s Supreme Court.

Harris Jeewooth, a crime scene photographer, was asked by defence counsel Rama Valayden, representing Moneea, to confirm whether anti-contamination measures were taken.

Mr Valayden said: “All witnesses and police officers who were called during your presence during the reconstruction – did they wear any protective clothes to prevent contamination?”

The officer replied: “No my lord.”

The case against hotel room attendant Treebhoowoon, from Plaine des Roches, and floor supervisor Moneea, from Petit Raffray, is expected to last two to three weeks.

The trial in the old French colonial court building is one the most high-profile criminal cases held on the island.

A jury of six men and three women is hearing the case and judge Mr Justice Prithviraj Fecknah is presiding.

Almost 50 witnesses are listed to give evidence.

Though most Mauritians speak French Creole as their first tongue, court proceedings are being heard in English.

Mrs McAreavey, from Ballygawley, Co Tyrone, was the only daughter of Harte, the GAA boss who has steered his native county to three All Ireland championships.

The Legends Hotel, which has since been renamed the Lux Hotel, is in the fishing village of Grand Gaube, close to Mauritius’s Grand Bay.

Mrs McAreavey taught religious education and the Irish language at St Patrick’s Academy in Dungannon, Co Tyrone.

Her Requiem Mass was held close to her family home at St Malachy’s chapel in Ballymacilroy – the same church in which she had married a fortnight before she was killed.

Then-president Mary McAleese was among dignitaries at a funeral attended by more than 3,000 people, as the newlywed was buried in her wedding dress.

WITH MANY THANKS TO : BREAKING NEWS.IE

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Man injured in Strabane gun attack

Scene of shooting
A number of men went into the property at Carlton Drive in Strabane on Tuesday
 

A man has been shot in the leg in County Tyrone while his girlfriend and young daughter were in the house.

A number of men went into a property at Carlton Drive in Strabane shortly before 22:30 BST on Tuesday.

They assaulted their victim before shooting him. His injuries are not believed to be life threatening.

The police said it was lucky that no-one had been killed. Chief Inspector Andy Lemon condemned the incident.

“Nothing justifies shooting a young man in his home whilst his girlfriend and young daughter are present and I would condemn such violence,” he said.

“It is very fortunate that no-one was fatally injured during this incident.

“Attacks such as this do not move us forward as a community, they only hold us back. What we need now is information from the public that can assist us in our investigation.”

 

WITH MANY THANKS TO : BBC NEWS NI

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Life as a protesting republican prisoner in Maghaberry

Damien McLaughlin is the first republican prisoner to talk publicly about the “dirty protest” taking place in Northern Ireland’s largest jail.



The 35-year-old convicted paramilitary – who has just been released from Maghaberry Prison – took part in the protest, which involves mixing urine and excrement and spreading it around the jail.


The tactic was used by IRA prisoners in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They refused to wash, and grew long beards.


Similar tactics have been used in Maghaberry since May 2011 by an estimated 30 prisoners.


Rather than smear excrement on their own cells, most of them are throwing it out onto prison landings.


Prison officers on the wings are forced to wear forensic suits, latex gloves and face-masks. 


Industrial cleaners are used to clean the wings on a daily basis.


The prisoners are protesting over the number of forced strip-searches taking place.


McLaughlin, from County Tyrone, said he underwent 24 strip-searches during his time behind bars.


He was jailed after being found guilty of possessing two rifles, a sawn-off shotgun and more than 100 bullets.


In a BBC interview, he was asked a series of questions:


What’s your problem with strip searching?


“Strip searching is a form of humiliation. There is no need for it. There’s technology to do it, the BOSS chair – body orifice security scanner.”


But the authorities regard you and other prisoners as dangerous men, they need to use the human eye and human touch in a search.


“The BOSS chair is a scanning system that picks up any of the things they’re talking about.


“People going onto aeroplanes go through these type of things. They’re not stripped going onto aeroplanes, and we know what can happen there.”


Exactly what form is the prison protest taking?


“At the moment the boys are embarking on a protest where they’re mixing their urine with their faeces and they’re putting it out onto the landings, and that has been ongoing since 6 May last year. 


“They’re living in their own waste at this present time.”


When will it stop?


“No Boss chair – protest goes on. The protest will go on while they’re forcibly strip-searching republican prisoners.”


What’s it like inside the part of the jail you were in?


“The smell would be one of the first things that would hit you. 


“I was talking to one of the fellas recently who came in while I was in, and he said as soon as he came onto the wing, the fumes and the smell of the human waste hit him, it brought tears to his eyes. It’s really bad. 


“There’s industrial cleaners going all day trying to clean it. The cells are rotten. There’s human waste and bits and pieces of food lying in corners of cells. 


“There’s waste all round the doors. It’s really bad.”


You and the other men in jail are seen as very dangerous people, what is the problem with strip-searching?


“The problem is you’re being humiliated and degraded. 


“They’re making you wiggle your tongue, stand on one foot, wiggle your toes, all sorts of degradation. When they forcibly strip you, they send in the riot squad.”


You were convicted of possessing guns and ammunition, why should anyone have any sympathy?


“People who are sent to jail have lost their liberty. That’s bad enough. 


“You don’t go to jail to be tortured on a daily basis, to be humiliated to be degraded. People go to jail to do their time.”


Are you sorry for what you did?


“No comment.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/uk-northern-ireland-17288794?SThisFB

POSTED ON BEHALF OF :  Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association

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