Brian Nelson (Northern Irish loyalist)
Brian Nelson | |
---|---|
Born | 30 September 1947 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
Died | 11 April 2003 England | (aged 55)
Allegiance | Force Research Unit Ulster Defence Association UDA West Belfast Brigade |
Conflict | The Troubles |
Brian Nelson (30 September 1947
Early life
Nelson, a
Stevens Inquiry
In the early 1990s, following the murder of
When the
Over a period of two months, Nelson dictated a police statement covering 650 pages. He claimed that he had been tasked by his military handlers with transforming the UDA into a more effective force, particularly at killing. Using information that should have been confidential to his handlers, he produced dossiers or "Intelligence Packages" including backgrounds, addresses, photos and movements on proposed targets, which were passed on to UDA assassins.[6]
Blue card index system
Nelson had a blue card index system whereby he would pick out information on individuals from the mass of information reaching him. The selection of names for the index was Nelson's alone and Stevens concluded that Nelson was choosing the people who were going to be shot. Nelson passed on the names of only ten people to his FRU handlers, claiming he could not remember the others. Those ten were never targeted. Four others, including solicitor
Trial
At his trial in 1992,[2] the prosecution alleged that Nelson failed to alert his handlers to all the assassination plans of which he was aware.[7] Gordon Kerr ("Colonel J"), a senior officer, who was later investigated himself,[citation needed] testified on Nelson's behalf. Kerr claimed that Nelson had warned the Intelligence Corps of more than 200 murder plots by loyalist death squads, including one which targeted Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams. Kerr claimed that Nelson's warnings allowed the British Army to prevent all murders but three.[2]
Nelson claimed that in 1989 he had warned his handlers of UDA plans to murder solicitor
Further allegations
Following Nelson's conviction, the BBC
In January 1993,
Jimmy Smyth extradition case
Sir
Francisco Notarantonio
Nelson was accused of setting up the killing of republican sympathiser, Francisco Notarantonio, aged 66, to divert the UDA away from wrongly targeting "
Loyalist
Legacy
Loyalist Billy "Twister" McQuiston revealed to journalist Peter Taylor that he and his comrades believed the Stevens Inquiry and the arrest of Brian Nelson did the UDA a favour, declaring "The Stevens inquiry got rid of all the old guard within the UDA and fresher men took over". In its aftermath, Loyalists began out-killing the IRA for the first time in decades.[19][20]
Death
Nelson died, reportedly from a brain haemorrhage, on 11 April 2003, aged 55, after suffering a heart attack a fortnight before his death. News reports described him as living in a secret location in England.[21][22]
References
- ^ RUC report re Brian Nelson, 11 July 1990, accessed 12 December 2012 Archived 26 February 2020 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d e f The Independent obituary for Brian Nelson, 14 April 2003
- ISBN 978-0-297-84842-4; p. 157
- ^ Collusion: British Military Intelligence and Brian Nelson Archived 19 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Sinn Féin website
- ^ Not for the Faint-Hearted, p. 156
- ^ a b c Not for the Faint-Hearted, pp. 161-64
- ^ The Guardian, Jail move "step to freedom", 28 December 1992
- ^ a b "Army faces legal case over killing", The Guardian, 17 August 1993
- ^ The Times, "Tory asks Major to protect agent", 9 June 1992
- ^ a b c Spy "rearmed loyalists", The Guardian, 8 January 1993
- ^ Ken Livingstone editorial, The Guardian, 8 March 1993
- ^ Sean Boyne, Gunrunners, The covert arms trail to Ireland, Dublin, O'Brien, 2006. pg.369
- ^ Irish Times 6 February 1988 "Arms find linked to three-way Loyalist purchase"
- ^ Irish Times 17 November 1988 "Ten questioned after part of huge arms shipment is found"
- ^ "US judge asks for secret British papers in IRA case", The Guardian, 5 May 1993
- ^ Report about the deportation of Jimmy Smyth from the United States back to Belfast
- ^ Crimes of loyalty: a history of the UDA; Ian S. Wood; Edinburgh University Press, 2006, p. 125
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
- ISBN 0 7475 4519 7page 209-210
- ^ ^ Clayton, Pamela (1996). Enemies and Passing Friends: Settler ideologies in twentieth-century Ulster. Pluto Press. p. 156. "More recently, the resurgence in loyalist violence that led to their carrying out more killings than republicans from the beginning of 1992 until their ceasefire (a fact widely reported in Northern Ireland) was still described as following 'the IRA's well-tested tactic of trying to usurp the political process by violence'"
- ^ Paul Foot (17 April 2003). "Brian Nelson". Obituary. The Guardian. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
- ^ "Former British agent Brian Nelson dies" RTÉ News, 13 April 2003; retrieved 8 May 2012