RUC/MI5 ‘Culpable’ In Scappaticci Killings, Said North’s Police Ombudsman

An excellent analysis, as usual from Ed Moloney. The Police Ombudsman is unable to investigate not only MI5 but any other British state organ, such as the Army. Another issue is raised by this. The police have a duty to uphold the law and preserve life and property. No such obligations exist in the other agencies. Where does that leave justice?

Source: RUC/MI5 ‘Culpable’ In Scappaticci Killings, Said North’s Police Ombudsman

My life in a banana republic , berets.

Jambo Jambo!

Because I have an enquirin’ mind, I have been researching berets.

In this country, it is not pronounced “berry” but “berr-ette”.

Unlike France, it is not worn as a fashion item. It is worn mostly by men, to show that you are macho, or as they say here “a hard man”.

Many musicians wear them when playing in marching bands.

Many politicians wear them. I have seen photographs of the Reverend Doctor Ian Paisley [deceased], the First Minister, the deputy first minister and Gerry Adams all wearing berets. I am told all the Army council wear them. The Lutheran ones are smarter than the Papish ones.

Women do not wear them, for example Emma Little who is a junior minister does not wear one, although her father did.

David Ford does not wear one, because Jesus, who likes his party , told him not to.

Jim Allister is a hard man, who leads a hard man tribe [although there are many comings and goings from it].When he speaks at the Meeting Place on the Hill, he is always cross. He needs no beret!

Mike Nesbitt does not wear a beret because it would spoil his beautifully coiffured hair. He is a hard man though , because he meets the UVF and can speak to them in their dialect [despite having been educated at Campbell’s College].

What puzzles me about this beret thing is that many politicians shout at each other about being connected to terrorists, yet they are all sitting down with terrorists [except David Ford , who is too busy destroying the legal system].

Meantime the hospitals are in crisis and the new train to Dublin cannot run on the tracks. This happened once, many years ago,  in Swaziland, where my cousin lives.

I propose that the beret be banned in Ulster. Many headdresses are banned around the world. I am going to speak about this at Corrymela, which is a great place by the sea, where for fifty years they have talked about Peace and have had much success, they say…..

Jambo Jambo!

 

Informants and the Justice and Security Act 2013: when government hoists the neither confirm, nor deny flag, the court should not automatically salute it

Excellent analysis

Covert Policing Law Blog's avatarCovert Policing Law Blog

The Court of Appeal in McGartland v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWCA Civ 686 has recently considered procedural issues arising out of a civil claim brought by the well-known informant Martin “Marty” McGartland against the Security Service for alleged breach of promise and negligence arising out of the way “arrangements” for his re-settlement in England were managed after “his cover was blown” and the IRA kidnapped him. The account of his work, capture and escape has been the subject of a book and film both entitled “Fifty Dead Men Walking”.

In defending the proceedings, the Government adopted the policy of “Neither Confirm Nor Deny” (NCND) and filed a limited defence. Following the introduction of the Justice and Security Act 2013 (the 2013 Act) an application was made by the claimant to require the defendant to plead a full defence and the defendant applied for a declaration…

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My life in a banana republic , November

Jambo Jambo!

If you haven’t met me before, I’m doing my post grad medical degree at the Great British Queen’s University.

I’m living in the Biblical area of Belfast, near the great Lagan River.

I have a great interest in politics and hope to learn from the Home of Democracy.

Just at the weekend , here in Stranmillis, lots of parents were upset. I learned that this is due to testing of their offspring. Are they smart enough? If so they go to a Grammar School, where they don’t learn much about grammar but they stay away from undesirable children. To do so they must pass an exam. If you are a follower of Luther you do one exam and if you are a follower of the Pope you do a different exam. Then, the Catholic ones are not allowed to meet anyone else. If you are from a poor tribe you cannot pass this exam. Later, all these Grammar children make pictures of themselves drinking alcohol and wearing unsuitable clothing. Then, their parents know that they have succeeded.

This is puzzling but my friend Dingle, who is an ex army officer and Welsh, says that it has always been so, before even Martin McGuinness.

Because I am at the Great Hospital Named after the Empress of India , I hear things. People here are not happy with their care. The people on the Great Hill, where the Elders meet, have decided to abolish a committee, this will cure people , they say. And they laugh at Witch Doctors!

My friend took me on a most disturbing trip on Sunday.  We went to see a Very Dangerous Place. It is called Meg-ah-Berry and in it are frightening  fellows. They are guilty of the most serious crimes. Beheading, genocide, shooting down planes, FGM. I wanted to leave the area immediately. My friend said that a Head Man of a Tribe, called the Alliance, would solve the problem , because he was anointed by God.

This is puzzling, so many anointed by God and so many carry guns and wear berets, of all colours. I am determined to research this.

Well, enough for now, I must return to my studies. Dingle says that I must wait for the Great Events, which make people happy. He says that these take place in the city or near the Great River Lagan and are spectacular, so much so that the citizens forget their problems , like dying early or getting fined for being in a bus lane. I said ‘is this like bread and circuses at the time of the Roman Emperors?’ He was a bit shocked that I knew about this fact.

Jambo Jambo

HMS Hawke

Thomas Henry Sefton was born on 29th April 1888 at 3 Gable Street Belfast. His mother was Eliza Jane Sefton, nee Hiland. His father was William Sefton , a soldier, living in military barracks in Belfast. He was my great uncle.

He was almost five foot five with black hair and hazel eyes and a fresh complexion. At some point he acquired, as sailors do, tattoos on both forearms.

On 31st July 1906, aged 18 ,  he joined the Royal Navy, at that point the most powerful navy in the world.

Young men from poor backgrounds were attracted to a life where they might see the world and earn a decent living.

Thomas was discharged in July 1911, to the Royal Fleet Reserve, presumably because the great  powers did not foresee a war.

He re-enlisted on 5th August 1914, the day that war was declared by Britain. One can only surmise at his state of mind. Here was an experienced sailor , willing to do his duty.

He joined HMS Hawke, a cruiser. He was a stoker, living his life in the boiler room, far below the waterline.

On 14th October 1914, at about 11.00am  she was torpedoed by U-9 , captained by Otto Widdigen, who was already a hero in Germany. The Royal Navy had failed to plan for the U Boat threat, and had already lost three ships to U-9, weeks earlier.

The Hawke was a training  ship and the cadets had chosen to stay aboard. Many young boys were among the casualties.

Over thirty men from Ulster were lost , from a crew of 594. There were 74 survivors. Their memorial is to be found in Chatham Naval Dockyard.

Today, my daughter, Victoria, and I attended a ceremony on the Donegal Road. The residents there had constructed a beautiful memorial to the men of the Hawke.

There was no artifice in this meeting. Ordinary men and women met together to remember the dead. No band played, no lords spoke. Just the words of ordinary Ulster people bade them rest.

Of all the ceremonies I have attended, this was the best.

Requiescat in pace, Thomas.

Huge constitutional crisis

Northern Ireland was plunged into a new slough of despond this evening with the news that Peter Curistan has turned up at Brooklyn with a constitutional bombshell for the Chief Constable.

He complains of words spoken by Peter Robinson, paragon of virtue and man of rectitude, in the House of Commons on 8th February 2006.

Stifle, Dear Reader , your surprise at the elapse of almost ten years since this outrage.

According to his solicitors KRWLAW , “human rights lawyers,solicitor advocates” he alleges “criminal malfeasance in public office by the First Minister , Peter Robinson MLA”

The activity complained of took place, not while Mr Robinson was an MLA at all but when he was a MP.  Mr Curistan alleges that this activity has damaged his personal and business reputation.

Stopping there , one might have some sympathy with a man whose reputation has been damaged by words spoken in the House of Commons. It is not an unusual event, especially where Northern Ireland is concerned. It is alleged that these words are without foundation.

Mr Curistan is fortified in his complaint because he recently sought KRWLAW’s advice and they engaged the services “of a ‘leading’ , not just any , Queen’s Counsel with vast expertise in criminal law.” KRWLAW go on “That Q.C. is [one almost expects ‘none other than’ and a drum roll and clash of cymbals] Mr Eugene Grant, a former Chair of the Bar Council of Northern Ireland”

My devoted readers will know that I have a certain view of this country, summed up as ‘a banana republic without the bananas’

Some of you will have acquired a smattering of legal expertise.

So let’s get down to it.

There is no such offence as “criminal misfeasance in a public office”.

There is the common law criminal offence of “misconduct in a public office” to which I shall return.

Misfeasance in a public office is a tort, which is a civil wrong for which the remedy is , generally, damages. Interestingly, Mr Curistan has chosen not to sue Mr Robinson in the Civil Courts. That may have something to do with the delay in his complaint or the costs involved. I do not know. The day following Mr Robinson’s statement Mr Curistan could have  issued civil proceedings. He did not.

Instead , I think, though because of the poor quality of the KRWLAW press release, I cannot be sure , Mr Curistan is urging the Chief Constable to investigate a crime.

At this point Curistan, KRWLAW and Grant “leading Q.C.” come up against one of the great products of the Protestant Glorious Revolution, The Bill of Rights 1688.

It provides “that the Freedome of Speech and Debates in Parlyament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any Court or Place out of Parlyament”

Halsbury, the book of reference on these matters, says that the law is settled. A Member of Parliament cannot be pursued in the courts for what he says in Parliament. It is known as parliamentary privilege.  Perhaps, though, the Bill of Rights is an enactment whose time has ended. We shall see. Meantime lights burn late at Brooklyn while the Chief Constable and his advisers consider the greatest challenge to the constitution since Guy Fawkes. Wait a minute! What timing!

It is a distraction , for those in abject poverty in many areas of Northern Ireland. It is a welcome relief for the workers at Michelin. It is a change from boring old news about our dysfunctional education system , our underachieving health system and our dangerous prisons, in which men in the lowest centiles of IQ are locked up.

Who knows where this crisis will end? Is Parliament, as we know it , doomed? After all it is only 498 years since the notice was nailed to the door in Wittenberg.

This crisis may outlive the last crisis…when was the deadline….?