Gerry Adams
There is no evidence that the RUC was involved in a UDA gun attack that left Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams with serious wounds over 30 years ago, the North’s Police Ombudsman, Dr Michael Maguire, has found.
Despite Dr Maguire’s findings, Deputy Adams – now a Louth TD – described his report as incomplete and asked that Dr Maguire set aside his conclusions until he had access to British Army files and other pertinent intelligence records.
Mr Adams, said in a statement yesterday: “Following the publication of several media articles in December 2006 claiming that there was collusion in the gun attack in March 1984 in which I and three others were wounded, I made a formal request to the Ombudsman’s office for this to be investigated.
“The Ombudsman also looked at two other allegations arising from newspaper reports by journalists and not raised by me. These were that the RUC knew of the attack one week in advance ‘due to a Special Branch informant’ and that the bullets were ‘doctored by the authorities to reduce their velocity and dumb them down.’ It rejected both.
“The Ombudsman’s report only deals with one of the three areas of concern that I brought to its attention in my letter of 18 December 2006.
“The Ombudsman identifies these as:
- ‘The RUC or security forces either had prior knowledge of the attack on him or were directly involved in the attempted murder
- Chief Constable Jack Hermon refused to acknowledge that Mr. Adams had been shot during a terrorist attack and didn’t issue a certificate to support Mr. Adams’ claim for criminal injuries
- RUC officers unnecessarily stopped and searched Mr. Adams’ visitors at the RVH, making him feel like a prisoner rather than a victim of an attack.’
“A previous Police Ombudsman had decided that two and three were not ‘grave or exceptional’ and consequently they were not investigated. This was a mistake. For a Chief Constable to refuse to confirm that a person has been shot was shameful and a grave misconduct in public office. It warranted investigation.
“Equally the treatment by RUC officers of my family and of visitors to me in the hospital was outrageous and intimidatory. It also deserved to be thoroughly investigated.
“The Ombudsman found that my allegation of collusion has not been substantiated.
“He says that there was no collusion by the RUC or ‘security forces’. But he did not have access to British Army files or those relating to the Force Research Unit which was the British intelligence agency principally responsible for running agents and informers, like Brian Nelson, within the UDA.
“The Ombudsman also acknowledges that there was ‘post intelligence (October 1984)’ that identifies UDA leaders who planned, organised, sanctioned, and supplied the weapons for the attack
“He goes on to state that this ‘intelligence was not shared with the investigating officers and as a result there was no further enquiries made in respect of the planning and sanctioning of the attack.’
“He does not investigate this or who took this decision.
“The Office of the Ombudsman also bases its conclusion that there was no prior knowledge of the attack on the denials of the would-be assassins and the fact that they were captured within minutes of the ambush.
“In my opinion this report is incomplete. The Ombudsman should seek access to British Army files and other pertinent intelligence records and set aside his conclusions until this is done.
“I will write to him formally asking him to do this.”
Members of the Ulster Defence Association, using its Ulster Freedom Fighters cover name, carried out the gun attack on a car containing Mr Adams and four other republicans as they were driving towards Belfast Magistrates Court in March 1984.
Mr Adams was hit in the neck, shoulder and arm as his vehicle was sprayed with some 20 bullets in the attack led by senior UDA figure John “Grugg” Gregg.
The driver, despite being hit, managed to escape the scene and drive to the Royal Victoria Hospital.
Dr Maguire, in his investigation, reported that Gregg and two other gunmen were arrested by an off-duty Ulster Defence Regiment soldier who was driving in the area, by an off-duty RUC officer who arrived at the scene, and by two British soldiers in plain clothes.
“We have talked to all the people involved in the events that day, including the perpetrators, the victims and the police. We have examined all the available evidence, including forensic and sensitive intelligence material and found no evidence that police knew of the attack beforehand,” he said.
Gregg and two other UDA men received lengthy prison sentences. When Gregg was released he once again became a senior UDA leader, being the so-called brigadier for southeast Antrim. In 2003 he was killed during a feud involving his mainstream UDA and a group led by Johnny Adair.
Dr Maguire conducted his investigation following a complaint by Mr Adams and after two newspaper reports stated that members of the RUC knew in advance of the attack.
Mr Adams alleged that the police or the security forces either had prior knowledge or had been involved. He said he felt “something was not quite right” about the entire incident and wondered how security force personnel “coincidentally” appeared at the scene that day.
A Police Ombudsman team spoke to Mr Adams, to the soldiers who arrived on the scene, to members of the public who saw what happened, to the two surviving gunmen who carried out the attack and to a number of retired police officers.
One of the convicted men said he had no part in planning the operation while the getaway driver said he suspected it was planned close to, if not on the day itself. Dr Maguire also reported that the off-duty UDR soldier and the two other soldiers accounted for their presence at the scene and these accounts were supported by independent witnesses.
Talk of the Town 