Special Branch gave loyalists murder weapon

BY LAURA FRIEL

Peter Cory

Special Branch officers gave a gun to the UDA that was later used in six murders, a report delivered to the British Government by Judge Cory will reveal. A Browning 9mm pistol used in six loyalist killings was in the possession of Special Branch for two weeks before it was handed back to the UDA.

The weapon was subsequently used in two separate sectarian mass murder attempts. In 1991, masked UDA men burst into the Devenish Arms and used the Browning pistol to shoot at customers.

Aiden Wallace, a 22-year-old Catholic, was shot dead and three others were seriously injured, including eight-year-old Christopher Lawless. The boy was shot in the face and lost an eye when one of the gunmen spotted him hiding under a table.

Three months later two UDA gunmen, one armed with the same pistol, burst into Sean Graham's bookmakers on the Ormeau Road and opened fire on the crowded shop. Five people were killed, including a 15-year-old boy and a 66-year-old pensioner.

According to leaks to the media, a report handed to the British Government by Peter Cory, a retired Canadian judge, points to evidence that Special Branch took possession of the Browning from UDA quartermaster Billy Stobie in late 1989 but returned the weapon two weeks later without any apparent attempt to track its movements.

Judge Cory had been tasked by the two governments to investigate six specific cases, including the killing of Pat Finucane, Rosemary Nelson and Robert Hamill.

It had been known that the Browning pistol used in the attack on the Devenish Arms and Ormeau bookmakers had been part of a batch of British Army weapons 'stolen' by the UDA from Palace Barracks in 1987. But it had not been known that the weapon had been in the possession of Special Branch two years later in late 1989. The 'stolen' pistol was returned to the UDA by Special Branch.

Before his murder in 2001, William Stobie had revealed that in 1989 he had been ordered by his Special Branch handlers to take any illegal UDA weaponry in his possession to Knocknagoney RUC barracks in east Belfast for inspection. Stobie handed over two Heckler and Kochs, two Browning pistols and two Uzi submachine guns to his handlers for two weeks. There had been no attempt to attach a tracking device to the Browning pistol before its return to the UDA.

Revelations about the yet to be published Cory Report have sparked further controversy after it was revealed that the British government had promised the report would not be made public until scrutinised by the families of the victims.

"In September, Secretary of State Paul Murphy told us in writing that the families would be informed about Judge Cory's reports before there was any public announcement," said Martin Finucane. "But it appears now that the British government has gone back on its promise and has instead briefed the media about Mr Cory's findings before the families."

Delay in publication of the report is believed to have resulted in British government attempts to have some sections of the report removed. At the time Cory handed over his reports to the British and Irish governments, the judge insisted that he wanted the material published in full without any significant changes. The delay follows the intervention of the British Attorney General.

Commenting on speculation around the Report, Gerry Adams said "if even a small part of the media reports around Judge Cory's investigation is accurate, it reinforces the case we have been making for many years about the depth and extent of institutionalised collusion. The Cory Report should be published immediately and the inquiries should also be held without further delay.

"There has already been too much delay, to many efforts to cover up the truth around collusion. Collusion was part of administrative procedure here for a long time. It involved the highest level of the British Government and its agencies."