RUC Chief covers his tracks
by Laura Friel
If the Independent Commission for Police Complaints had no
confidence in the ability of the RUC to investigate the death threats
against Rosemary, how can my family be expected to have confidence in
their ability or indeed their willingness, to effectively investigate
her murder.
Paul Nelson
| |
It was 3am and just a few short hours after the brutal killing of
Lurgan solicitor Rosemary Nelson when the telephone rang in the NIO
Secretary of State's residence. The caller, RUC Chief Ronnie
Flanagan, was seeking Mo Mowlam's endorsement of his decision to
bring David Philips, Kent Chief Constable, into the murder
investigation. Mowlam gave the go ahead, leaving the RUC chief to
announce the assistance of the senior British police officer together
with agents of the FBI.
It was all good PR. Here was the RUC, a force so ruthlessly
territorial in the past, who had thwarted Stalker and neutralised
Stevens, inviting outsiders in. Irish nationalist and international
demands for a fully independent investigation into the Nelson murder
were met with a congenial Ronnie Flanagan, ``open to anything which
brings about the best prospects for a successful conclusion to this
investigation'' while insisting the RUC remain the ``best means'' to
this end.
Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster, Flanagan claimed the overwhelming body
of opinion was that the RUC was best placed to handle the
investigation. The RUC Chief agreed that there were some legitimate
public concerns but insisted the RUC was ``sensitive'' to those and was
acting in a way to allay them. And for some, the prompt appointment
of a British police officer and soliciting the help of the American
FBI might have appeared as tacit acceptance of accountability by the
RUC. But was the RUC really addressing nationalist fears or simply
covering their backs in the face of fierce public criticism?
Within hours, assurances given to Bertie Ahern by British PM Tony
Blair were being denied by Kent police and Downing Street. Refusing
to give any details, including names and ranks, a spokesperson for
Kent said two detectives had gone to Belfast, but only to assist the
RUC. Downing Street officials insisted that Philips would be
scrutinising the investigation, not leading it. The implication of
accountability which accompanied Flanagan's announcement of the
appointment of a British police chief was finally dashed with the
realisation that Philips may never actually leave his Kent
Constabulary desk.
The investigation would not be headed by Philips so much as
supervised. It was all semantics, the image of a senior outside
policeman with his own team at the cutting edge of the investigation
faded into the promise of a cursory glance of a report complied by
the RUC delivered to an office miles away from the streets of Lurgan.
Flanagan reassured the public that Philips and the FBI would ``retain
their role of oversight on the case''. Just what particular oversight
the RUC Chief had in mind can only be guessed at although as the week
progressed his choice of words seemed increasingly appropriate.
Two of the four FBI agents left the Six Counties a few days after
their arrival. Special agent John Guido, in charge of all FBI
operations in Britain, returned to the American Embassy in London,
where he is based. A second FBI officer, described as an information
management specialist, flew back to the USA with no plans to return.
The two remaining agents are based in the RUC's headquarters. Leading
American lawyer and chairperson of the Americans for a New Irish
Agenda group, Frank Durkan, questioned the FBI's impartiality.
``They're not about to bite back at their new partners with an
unfavourable report,'' he said.
d then there was David Philips himself. ``The actions of Ronnie
Flanagan in appointing David Philips to oversee the RUC investigation
does not make this inquiry independent or indeed acceptable,'' said
Sinn Féin Assembly member Dara O'Hagan.
``Question marks already exist over the manner in which David Philips'
Kent constabulary conducted the inquiry into the Metropolitan Police
Investigation of the Stephen Lawrence murder. Indeed at one point,
the Kent police actually `commended' their Metropolitan colleagues on
their investigation, conclusions wiith which the recently published
MacPherson Report `disagreed roundly'.''
Dublin's Sunday Business Post exposed Philips' role in the dirty
tricks conspiracy to remove John Stalker, Deputy Chief Constable for
Greater Manchester, from the shoot-to-kill inquiry in 1986. David
Philips, then Manchester's Assistant Chief Constable, agreed to the
establishment of a secret unit to investigate Stalker. Bizarre and
unfounded allegations emanating from this unit led to Stalker's
removal from the inquiry into allegations of an RUC shoot-to-kill
policy. Small wonder that it was David Philips' name which tripped so
readily from Ronnie Flanagan's lips when he made that early morning
telephone call to Hillsborough.
Meanwhile, a report criticising the RUC investigation into
allegations of RUC harassment and intimidation, including death
threats against Rosemary Nelson prior to her murder, had been leaked
to the media. A damning indictment, the report by the Independent
Commission for Police Complaints (ICPC) accused RUC officers
conducting the investigation of open hostility and blatant sexism
against the Lurgan solicitor. The ICPC was forced to take the
unprecedented step of scrapping the RUC investigation and giving the
job to Metropolitan Chief Commander Niall Mulvihill.
``If the ICPC had no confidence in the ability of the RUC to
investigate the death threats against Rosemary,'' said husband Paul
Nelson, ``how can my family be expected to have confidence in their
ability or indeed their willingness, to effectively investigate her
murder.'' The truth of Paul Nelson's assessment was indisputable but
the fudge continued.
Addressing the British House of Commons, NIO minister Lord Dubs
described the RUC as the ``best qualified'' to investigate Nelson's
murder. The minister was ``confident that the investigation would be
carried out impartially''. Mo Mowlam insisted that the investigation
would be ``solid''. Flanagan had reacted speedily to address fears by
inviting the Kent Chief Constable to head the inquiry and calling for
FBI assistance, she assured.
Media revelations continued. Senior members of the RUC had tried to
improperly influence the ICPC report, declared Ireland on Sunday.
Individual members of the ICPC, tasked with supervising the RUC
investigation were reported as having come under intense pressure to
``tone down'' and omit some of the many criticisms. When the RUC
failed to pressurise ICPC members, it fell to the Metropolitan Police
to dig them out of the hole.
In sharp contrast to the leaked ICPC report, a 10-page review by
Mulvihill attempts to play down the seriousness of the ICPC's
findings. Drunken obstruction and arrogant non co-operation by the
RUC becomes a ``breakdown in communication coupled with a series of
unrelated administrative and organisational problems combined to
create an `air of concern' which was wholly at odds with, and
disproportionate to, the actual situation.''
Meanwhile, Flanagan was directly criticised by UN Special Rapporteur
Data Param Cumaraswamy. In a second report, Cumaraswamy accused the
RUC of showing complete indifference to the allegations of RUC
threats against defence lawyers contained in reports from
nongovernment organisations. Flanagan is criticised for ``allowing the
situation to deteriorate'' by his inaction.
The UN Rapporteur also responded to Flanagan's dismissal of his
earlier report, which Flanagan said was based on ``hearsay'' and
insists there is prima facie evidence of collusion fortified by the
British government's refusal to publish the Stevens' Inquiry.
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