COLLUSION UNDER THE MICROSCOPE AGAIN | MURDER OF GERARD SLANE, 1988

Attorney General orders new inquest into murder organised by top British Army agent in UDA

Gerard Slane’s front door which his killers sledge-hammered before bursting in and killing him and Gerard Slane (inset)

» BY PEADAR WHELAN

THE FAMILY of west Belfast nationalist Gerard Slane have achieved a major breakthrough in their fight for justice with the ordering by the Attorney General of a fresh inquest into his killing in 1988.
The development has come after the lawyer acting for the family, Kevin Winters, made submissions to the Attorney General several months ago.
This case could further expose the nature of the covert war pursued by successive British governments in Ireland.
The UDA shot father of three Gerard Slane dead in 1988 at his west Belfast home. It later emerged that the secretive British Army military intelligence and dirty tricks outfit, the Force Research Unit (FRU), and the RUC Special Branch all had knowledge of the planned attack yet failed to prevent it.
It also emerged that the UDA terror group’s most senior intelligence officer, Brian Nelson, himself a former soldier in the British Army, was in fact the FRU’s leading agent and that under their command he had procured and organised Gerard’s killing.
In January 1990, Brian Nelson was subsequently arrested and charged by the Stevens Inquiry Team despite efforts by MI5 and the FRU to thwart any probing into the murder by Stevens.
In January 1992, Nelson stood trial in relation to a number of murders and conspiracy to murder. These included Gerard’s murder.
Speaking to ‘An Phoblacht’, Teresa Slane, Gerard’s widow, said:
“It is now 23 years after Gerard’s murder and there is never a day or moment that we as a family stop thinking of him.
“Gerard was robbed of seeing his children growing up and of seeing his grandchildren. His parents, brothers and sisters were robbed of their son and brother, and my husband was brutally taken from me.
“As a family we have many questions about Gerard’s murder.
“Our pain and grief is no different to that of many other families also bereaved in the conflict - that Gerard’s murder has been clouded in secrecy and cover-up only adds to these emotions.
“It is important that after all this time there may now be a proper opportunity to fully examine Gerard’s murder and the roles played by all of those involved. Public scrutiny is vitally important and therefore we welcome the fact that a new inquest will now take place.”
Solicitor Kevin Winters added:
“There are many disturbing features and unanswered questions in this case and any inquest will have to address these matters.
“Stevens conducted an extensive investigation into a series of murders of which Gerard’s was one. His report has never been published. Investigative journalists have also reported extensively on a range of matters related to Gerard’s killing, among them Panorama’s John Ware.
“Since the initial inquest, and the trial of Brian Nelson, who was charged in connection with Gerard’s murder, there was no ventilation of key factors in the killing and subsequently much evidence has emerged which could not have been examined at the time. Therefore the Attorney General has rightly ordered a new inquest.
“There has been significant changes to inquests since then and we would expect that Lord Stevens, his report, John Ware and indeed Colonel Gordon Kerr, the then head of FRU, would be available to the court as part of the coroner’s examination of Gerard’s killing.”
Mark Thompson of Relatives for Justice, which has supported the family over many years, said:
“The killing of Gerard Slane in front of his wife and children in their home was a horrific experience and they live with legacy of that terrible atrocity. Teresa and Gerard’s children, now adults, want the truth.
“Hopefully this inquest can establish the facts, provide the truth and allow the family to finally close this awful chapter.”