29 March 2001 Edition

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RUC men in suicide pact

Excerpts from an RUC notebook revealing that two RUC men discussed committing suicide in a Dungannon RUC base have raised serious concerns among nationalists in the area. Sinn Féin Assembly member for mid-Ulster Francie Molloy is now asking if these RUC members are still on duty.

The incident, which happened around the early hours of 7 March, came to light when the excerpts from an RUC notebook were sent along with other information to a person involved in a case against the RUC.

According to Molloy, the information about the suicide threat was written in an official RUC notebook and describes how one RUC officer recalled hearing shooting from the `rec room' and overhearing a conversation between two other RUC men, members of the K1 MSU based in Dungannon.

In the notebook, the first RUC man records that the two men in question were arguing about personal problems and then one urging the other ``that they both commit suicide''. He also recorded that one of the RUC men had drink taken and the other broke down crying.

Molloy is calling on the RUC to disclose whether these RUC men are still on duty, fully armed and in daily contact with the public. ``I also want to know what action if any was taken following the incident being reported,'' he says.

Molloy went on to point out that RUC man Alan Moore, who tricked his way into the Sinn Féin office on the Falls Road in 1992 and shot three men dead and wounded three others before committing suicide, was able to drive out of an RUC barracks with a pump action shotgun even though he was undergoing psychiatric assessment.


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