Police target six key IRA suspects
Exclusive: Decades on, with terrorists behind London, Brighton and Warrington bombings still at large ...
SIX IRA terror suspects thought to be behind some of the worst atrocities committed on mainland Britain are facing major new police investigations, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose.
The alleged terrorists had all been told that they would not face arrest because they had received so-called “comfort letters” under a controversial peace deal drawn up by Tony Blair.
The existence of the letters only emerged last year following the collapse of the trial of John Downey, who was charged with murdering four soldiers in the Hyde Park bombing. But a leaked police document, obtained by The Sunday Telegraph, shows that detectives now believe these “comfort letters” do not protect suspects from prosecution.
The document discloses that police in Northern Ireland have identified six individuals suspected of carrying out terrorist attacks, which are believed to have taken place both in The Province and in England.
The police document does not give details of the six cases.
But it raises the possibility that high profile criminal trials over some of the bloodiest and most notorious attacks in the history of the Troubles could follow.
It is understood that “comfort letters” were given to suspects in the Harrods car bomb in 1983, which killed six and injured 90, and the Remembrance Day bombing in Enniskillen in 1987.
Other atrocities under investigation could include the Regent’s Park bombing, in which seven military bandsmen were killed, on the same day as the Hyde Park bombing in 1982, and the 1984 Brighton bomb, which targeted the Grand Hotel where Margaret Thatcher’s Cabinet members were staying, killing five people and injuring 34.
The dramatic development comes on the eve of a major new report following a year-long parliamentary inquiry into the “comfort letters” scheme.
Fifteen years ago, Mr Blair reached a secretive deal with Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein leader, under which 200 fugitives were sent letters from the British government giving them assurances that they would not face arrest if they returned to the UK.
The former Labour prime minister has insisted that the scheme was fundamental to the success of the Northern Ireland peace process, which he said would have collapsed without it. The report from MPs on the Northern Ireland affairs select committee is expected to contain strong criticisms of how Mr Blair’s government handled IRA fugitives.
A source close to the inquiry said the “comfort letters” scheme was “chaotic” and “reckless to the point of unlawful”.
The inquiry was launched after the collapse of the criminal case against Mr Downey, who was accused of the Hyde Park bombing.
He denied killing four soldiers in the 1982 bombing and his trial collapsed last year after he produced a letter from the Northern Ireland Office telling him he was not wanted. The judge threw out the prosecution, ruling that it was an abuse of process for Mr Downey to have been lured back to the UK by the government’s letter before being charged.
Since the collapse of the Downey trial, it has been widely believed that fugitives who had been sent “comfort letters” as part of the Northern Ireland peace process could never be prosecuted.
However, the leaked police document shows that detectives now believe this is not the case.
On Friday, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) wrote to MPs on the Northern Ireland affairs select committee, to disclose details of the major new phase in its inquiries into the “on the run” (OTR) cases.
In the letter, seen by The Sunday Telegraph, Will Kerr, the Assistant Chief Constable, announced that PSNI now believed there to be no barrier to prosecuting OTR suspects who had been sent “comfort letters” – because Coalition Government ministers have recently said the letters had no legal force.
“Whilst prosecutorial challenges may still lie ahead, the obstacles to investigating, arresting and charging suspects appear to have been removed,” Mr Kerr said.
The PSNI will “prioritise” reexamining the cases of 36 OTRs whose status was changed from “wanted” to “not wanted” during the scheme run by Mr Blair’s government under which Mr Downey was mistakenly given a letter of assurance.
It is not clear whether any of these 36 individuals were wrongly told they were not wanted, but police want to review the cases thoroughly to establish the truth.
However, far more concerning will be the disclosure that officers have found “six additional individuals whose circumstances have been
London
IN 1982 a nail bomb exploded in Hyde Park as troops on parade rode past, followed by a second device which was exploded under a bandstand in Regent’s Park. In total, 11 unarmed soldiers and seven horses were killed; 50 soldiers and civilians were wounded.
The victims included seven bandsmen from the Royal Green Jackets, who were playing at the time of the Regent’s Park blast.
In 1987, Gilbert “Danny” McNamee, an electronics engineer from Northern Ireland, was jailed for 25 years after being found guilty of building the radio-controlled bomb used in the Hyde Park attack.
He was released from prison in 1998 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement and his conviction was later overturned by the Court of Appeal. But three other people who were not tried have previously been named in connection with the incident.
Another man John Downey was charged with alleged involvement in the Hyde Park bombing but the case against him collapsed after it was disclosed he had been given a letter assuring him he was not wanted by the police. No one has ever been charged in connection with the Regent’s Park blast.
Brighton
The Brighton bombing on October 12, 1984, tore through the Grand Hotel, where Margaret Thatcher and her Cabinet were staying for the Conservative conference.
Five people were killed and 34 injured, including Norman Tebbit and his wife Margaret who were trapped under rubble. Mrs Tebbit was left paralysed.
Patrick Magee, an IRA member, was jailed for planting the bomb in a hotel room.
Lord Tebbit has repeatedly called for Magee to disclose who “procured and planned” the attack with him but his accomplices still remain unnamed.
Magee was arrested in a flat with Martina Anderson, now Sinn Fein’s Northern Ireland MEP. She was later convicted of conspiring to cause explosions, although Magee was the only person convicted in relation to the Brighton bombing.
Harrods
A car bomb exploded outside Harrods in central London on December 17 1983. The blast killed three police officers, three civilians and injured 90 people, including 14 police officers. The civilian victims were Philip Geddes, 24, Jasmine Cochrane-Patrick, 25, and Kenneth Salvesan, 28. The officers killed were Sgt Noel Lane, 28, Pc Jane Arbuthnot, 22, and Insp Stephen Dodd, 34, who died of his injuries on December 24.
Pc Jon Gordon survived, but lost both legs and part of a hand.
No one has been convicted of carrying out the attack.
Birmingham
Bombs exploded in two Birmingham pubs on November 21 1974 killing 21 people and injuring 182. A group of men known as the Birmingham Six were jailed for carrying out the attack, but their convictions were quashed in 1991.
Patrick Hill, one of the Birmingham Six, said he had been told by IRA members that five people carried out the bombings; two of whom had died, and two of whom had been given immunity under the Good Friday Agreement.
Four other people have been named in connection with the attack but not charged.
Warrington
An IRA bomb attack in Warrington on March 20, 1993, killed three- year-old Johnathan Ball and 12year-old Tim Parry and injured 54 others. No one has ever been charged.
Guildford
On October 5,1974, the IRA detonated bombs in two Guildford pubs killing Ann Hamilton, William Forsyth, Paul Craig, John Hunter and Caroline Slater.
Two groups, later dubbed the Guildford Four and the Maguire Seven, were found guilty of carrying out the attack but their convictions were overturned 15 years later and the attack remains unsolved. A four-man IRA unit called the Balcombe Street Gang later claimed responsibility for the attacks but were not charged.
Ian Gow
Ian Gow, a Tory MP, was assassinated by a car bomb planted under his vehicle outside his home in East Sussex on July 30, 1990.
The IRA claimed responsibility for the Tory MP for Eastbourne’s death due to him being a close associate of Margaret Thatcher and because of his role in developing British policy on Northern Ireland. No one was charged.