Shock new allegations against MI5 date back to 1960s
Shock new allegations against MI5 date back to 1960s

cleeland.jpg

A former English career criminal has described how he was recruited to murder five people in the north of Ireland on behalf of MI5 in the earliest days of the recent conflict – and worked with an agent who carried out the 1974 Birmingham bombings.

The hit-man admission came in a sworn affidavit by 82-year-old convicted killer Paul Cleeland (pictured) and reported by the Irish News.

Cleeland, who lives in England, has said he was recruited to MI5 in the late 1960s and was later flown to the north on five occasions to carry out murders.

The pensioner says he has broken his silence to speak out about the Birmingham bombings, which at the time were blamed on the Provisional IRA.

No one was ever convicted of the devastating bombings, in which 21 civilians died. There were suspicions at the time that a British ‘Dirty Tricks’ agenda was involved in a bid to wreck public support for Irish freedom.

Amid a wave of anti-Irish public outrage, six Irishmen, known as the Birmingham Six, were tortured into making false confessions and handed life sentences.

Cleeland has now said the attacks were carried out by another state agent, who had confided to him that he planted the bombs on behalf of British intelligence. The pensioner has said it was the same man who was involved as a getaway driver with him in the series of murders he carried out in Belfast.

Cleeland revealed that he was recruited after his release from prison in the late 1960s because of his contacts in organised crime.

He said his role was as a “source of information” and “talent scout” for criminals that could be of use to MI5 and RUC police Special Branch.

He said that at the start of the conflict he was instructed ‘to kill those bastards IRA’. He was trained in the use of firearms and flown to Belfast on five occasions.

He was brought to a “safe house” where he was shown a photograph of targets.

The killings Cleeland has now admitted to are similar to the gangster-syle drive-by shootings later perpetrated by the British Army’s notorious ‘Military Reaction Force’ (MRF).

In 1973, Cleeland was convicted of the murder of his business partner in England a year earlier. He has alleged he was framed for the murder after he was “of no further use to the intelligence branches”. Sentenced to life, he served 27 years. Mr Cleeland continues to insist he is innocent of the murder.

Cleeland said it is the driver of the car, who he believes was working for MI5 and Special Branch, is the person who admitted to him in a prison encounter “that he planted the bombs in Birmingham on the order of the British intelligence”.

Cleeland says that a short time after he spoke to him, he was “suddenly transferred” to another prison.

He claims that while his has never seen the driver since their prison encounter, he later had links to a prosecution witness in the Birmingham Six trial.

He added that the man “not only acted as a driver for myself and Jake in Belfast when I carried out the killings of IRA men, but later admitted to the planting bombs and carrying out terrorist attacks on behalf of the British intelligence”.

Julie Hambleton, whose sister Maxine was killed in the blasts, has called for a public inquiry to be held as a result of the allegations. She has revealed that a 2019 inquest refused to accept Cleeland’s affidavit.

Kevin Winters, of KRW Law, who is acting for the former gangster, said the affidavit is “the earliest evidence of state sanctioned murders in the history of the conflict”.

“It confirms the over-arching role of the intelligence services was in play from the very start of The Troubles,” he said.

“The state’s oversight in these series of killings is the earliest prototype on what was later to become the MRF (Military Reaction Force).

“It also is one of if the earliest examples of what we later came to know as ‘collusion’.”

Mr Winters said the account is genuine.

“It’s a measure of the credibility of Mr Cleeland’s narrative that he’s prepared to swear on affidavit to admissions to murder,” he said.

“It says it all that he feels he can publicly admit to murder and yet be so confident that he will never be prosecuted let alone even arrested.

“Our client was never investigated for his role in these state intelligence agencies inspired murders yet he went to jail on the one murder he had no involvement in.”

“He was set up and sent to jail for a murder he never committed in order to silence him.

“It was to stop him exposing the hand of the state in all these killings.”

Mr Winters, who also represents relatives of some of those killed in the Birmingham bombings, said his client wants to “expose state intelligence conspiracy to murders as part of his decades-long campaign to clear his name through the courts in England”.

“All previous attempts to expose this extraordinary state sponsored criminal murder conspiracy have fallen on deaf ears.

“This is the first time any media spotlight has been shone on such a dark recess of the conflict.”

The lawyer said his client is throwing down the gauntlet “to the authorities to arrest him but he knows that will never happen”.

“The moment they do that is the moment they expose themselves to some very uncomfortable criminal and civil liabilities,” he said.

Mr Winters compared Cleeland’s story to that of former British military intelligence officer Colin Wallace, who was wrongly convicted of manslaughter in the 1980s and spent six years behind bars.

“Paul’s narrative chimes with other similar state engineered machinations to deprive people of their liberty,” he said.

“The very same mantra was deployed to send Colin Wallace to jail for a murder he didn’t commit.

“The same thing happened here as well with Mr Cleeland.

“Having this type of media exposure will help support his campaign to clear his name by opening the door to the courts in London again.”

Mr Winters added that a “previous media shut down on his case has now at last been lifted”.

“For the first time in many years he can look forward with some hope that his wrongful conviction for murder will be over turned,” he said.

Urgent Appeal

Despite increasing support for Irish freedom and unity, we need your help to overcome British and unionist intransigence. We can end the denial of our rights in relation to Brexit, the Irish language, a border poll and legacy issues, with your support.

Please support IRN now to help us continue reporting and campaigning for our national rights. Even one pound a month can make a big difference for us.

Your contribution can be made with a credit or debit card by clicking below. A continuing monthly donation of £2 or more will give you full access to this site. Thank you. Go raibh míle maith agat.

© 2025 Irish Republican News