‘Collusive behaviour’ allegations: Orange Order Chief and ex-Special Branch detective Rev Mervyn Gibson adds his voice to chorus of support for RUC

The Orange Order grand secretary made the comments amid a firestorm of criticism enveloping the RUC (and its counter-terror wing in particular) after the latest report from the police ombudsman.

The report found a rash of failings by officers who were handling informants in the South Belfast UDA from 1990 to 1998, at a time when violence from the group was peaking.

Whilst the ombudsman was prevented by a court judgment from explicitly finding “collusion” (on the basis that this would be a criminal act which she doesn’t have the power to rule on), she nonetheless found “collusive behaviour”.

Rev Gibson was a policeman for 18-and-a-half years, most of which he spent in the anti-terror division, Special Branch, where he rose to be a detective sergeant.

He left the force in 1994.

He said that the ombudsman’s report came against a general backdrop of a “continuous rewriting of history” when it comes to the role the security forces played in the Troubles.

Around 10% of all fatalities in the Troubles were caused by security forces, with paramilitaries responsible for the rest.

Rev Gibson (who is recovering from Covid at the minute) told the News Letter yesterday: “It was clear what was right and wrong.

“We, the RUC as a whole, faced terrorism from all sides, and we responded to protect society without fear or favour.

“I think the vast majority of people understand the job the RUC had to do and supported them.”

Asked what the mood was like in Special Branch after the Sean Graham bookies massacre – the main focal point of the ombudsman’s report, in which the UDA shot dead five Catholic civilians – Rev Gibson replied: “We were appalled at every terrorist act that took place: murder of policemen, soldiers, and the murder of civilians – by any side.

“It was our job to stop those things, and we worked darn hard at doing so.”

The idea that anyone in Special Branch would have wanted such an outcome was “absolute nonsense”.

He also said many people who are now heaping opprobrium on his generation of officers don’t fully understand the conditions under which they were forced to operate.

“They didn’t live in those days, they didn’t have to live through them,” he said.

“They’re looking back without knowledge or experience of what was going on ...

“Every murder or attack shouldn’t have happened and the police did their best to prevent them.

“Those who supported law and order realise the debt that society owes to the police and to the security forces generally – the Army and the prison services – for standing in the gap against terrorism.

“I have no difficulty saying mistakes were made, but there’s a difference between a mistake and a deliberate act.”

WHAT DID THE OMBUDSMAN SAY?

The report last week from Ombudsman Marie Anderson found “legitimate and justified” concerns over “inadequate forensic, suspect, and arrest strategies [plus] failures to adequately test and probe evidence” during the RUC’s operations against the UDA.

She found 10 specific things which counted as “collusive behaviour”, including:

> Record-keeping failures;

> Destruction of material about “covert investigatory measures” against the UDA;

> A failure to warn two victims of intelligence indicating a looming threat against them;

> A “failure of police to exploit all evidential opportunities, for example the failure to recover significant evidential material used in the attack at Sean Graham Bookmakers and to make early arrests”;

> And “the continued, unjustifiable use by Special Branch of informant(s) involved in serious criminality, including murder”.

SECURITY FORCE KILLINGS DWARFED BY PARAMILITARIES:

These are the death tolls inflicted from 1969 to 2001 by different wings of the security forces (according to Ulster University’s CAIN project):

> Total number killed: 362 (of which 188 were civilians, 146 republican paramilitaries, 18 loyalist paramilitaries, and 13 fellow security forces)

> The overwhelming majority of security force killings were by the regular GB military: 299 (of which 151 were civilians, 126 republican paramilitaries, 13 loyalist ones, nine fellow security)

> The RUC killed 55 people (30 civilians, 17 republican paramilitaries, four loyalist ones, and four fellow security)

> The UDR killed eight people (five civilians, two republican paramilitaries, one loyalist)

All of this pales compared with the paramilitary death tolls:

> Republicans killed at least 2,058 people in total

> Loyalists killed at least 1,027

More from this reporter:

Click here – Transgenderism: Christian doctor says his legal fight will go on against ruling which slams the Book of Genesis

Click here – INTERACTIVE MAP: Catholic / Protestant quota system now in force in 28 housing estates with 31 more to come

——— ———

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdowns having had a major impact on many of our advertisers — and consequently the revenue we receive — we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content.

Visit

https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions

now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Ben Lowry, Editor