PSNI accused of cover-up over Dungannon gun find

DESPITE previous denials, the PSNI has admitted that a handgun with possible links to the notorious Glenanne Gang – made up of serving British Army soldiers, RUC police officers and loyalist death squads – was found in a house near Dungannon, County Tyrone, in June.

The gun was found during renovations to a house in Tamnamore near Dungannon and handed over to the PSNI. In the immediate aftermath the PSNI denied the find, saying they had “no knowledge of an arms find”.

Under pressure from Sinn Féin, Relatives for Justice and other human rights organisations, however, the PSNI performed a U-turn and has finally admitted that a weapons cache was indeed found by people carrying out renovations to the property.

As well as the gun (said to be a revolver), three types of ammunition and two military manuals were discovered. Speculation that a list of names was also part of the cache saw the Sinn Féin MLA for the area, Linda Dillon, challenge the PSNI to come clean over the find.

“The PSNI have questions to answer over why they denied there was a gun found in this house and handed over to them,” she said. 

“They need to disclose the chain of possession of this weapon from when it was handed in and why they denied they had the weapon in the first place.”

Linda Dillon MLA went on to say that “given the activities of loyalist death squads, acting in collusion with and under the direction of British intelligence services in this area for many years, this discovery is very concerning” .

Sinn Féin will be pursuing this matter vigorously through Phelim Gildernew who sits on Policing and Community Safety Partnership while Sinn Féin will also demand answers from the Chief Constable at the next Policing Board meeting.

Speaking to An Phoblacht, Mark Thompson of Relatives for Justice reiterated the concerns of local people that the PSNI were involved in a cover-up, saying their “initial claim to be beyond credible”.

Thompson said:

“The history of collusion in this area and the unwillingness of the PSNI to confirm the find merely adds to the suspicion that the PSNI is involved in a cover-up.”

The County Tyrone town of Dungannon was at the point of what become known as the “Murder Triangle” during the conflict, an area running through east Tyrone, north Armagh and into south Armagh where some of the most notorious loyalist death squad leaders such as Billy 'King Rat' Wright and Robin 'The Jackal' Jackson operated under the protection of British Military Intelligence.

The notorious Glenanne Gang, made up of UVF members as well as members of the RUC and UDR, carried out over 120 killings in the south Armagh area.