RUC trawl North Belfast for informers
By Mick Naughton
The RUC tactic of trying to recruit informers was again exposed
this week in North Belfast.
Sinn Féin Councillors Paddy McManus, Mick Conlon, Bobby Lavery
and Danny Lavery have all documented details of approaches over
the past four weeks and have urged anyone approached to contact
their local office, priest or lawyer if worried about being
targeted by the RUC. As part of their budget the RUC are having
to justify a `slush fund' for informers and have recently been
extremely active in ensuring this money is kept at its existing
high level.
20 year old Gary Hutchinson from the New Lodge Road area told An
Phoblacht on Wednesday of his ordeal at the hands of his RUC
persecutors.
``A few weeks ago the RUC stopped me on the Woodvale Road, which
is a loyalist area. They began to caution me regarding minor
traffic offences and told me someone would `be in touch soon'.
One of them signed a form under the name of a Constable Finley of
Oldpark RUC barracks. He then gave me a ``producer'' to give into
Oldpark barracks within seven days.
``I phoned up looking an extension while my insurance agency
provided me with up-to-date documents and the RUC must have got
my telephone number by using the 1471 British Telecom system.
Meantime I was facing rioting charges regarding trouble in the
area in July.
``The phone rang last Monday night, and a voice said, `this is
Antrim Road RUC. Regarding your court case, we can sort all that
out, as well as the motoring charges. Gary, we can get all this
forgotten about. My name by the way is `Constable Brian'. Can you
talk OK? Is anyone sitting there with you?'
``I told him to go away and I was going to see my lawyer who has
since told me he knows no RUC member in that barracks by that
name.''
More worrying for the Hutchinson family is the fact that just the
next day his partner spotted a red car parked in Spamount Street
containing two uniformed RUC men and three in plain clothes. She
was then followed with her children down to Donegall Street and
Upper Library Street. From that incident earlier this week their
phone has been ringing in the early hours but no one answers, yet
Gary Hutchinson is convinced it is `Constable Brian' probably
using a mobile phone as he cannot get the number from BT.
``I am asking the RUC Chief Constable is he aware of his forces'
activities and their sinister threats about loyalists killing me
and my family and their intention to mark me out as a possible
undercover agent. With an IRA ceasefire in place I would have
thought this harassment would have ended. Obviously the RUC are
still on a war footing and as out of control as they ever were.''
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/aprn.gif)