Conghaileach
18th April 2003, 15:12
Brian Nelson
=========
An army agent in the UDA, he was implicated in sectarian murders
Paul Foot
Thursday April 17, 2003
The Guardian
Brian Nelson, who has died of a brain haemorrhage aged 55, features in
today's report by the Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir John Stevens. In
the early 1990s, Stevens, then a relatively lowly deputy chief constable in
Cambridgeshire, was asked to conduct an inquiry into the relationship
between the British army and Protestant paramilitaries, notably the Ulster
Defence Association.
He soon came across Nelson, a fanatical and sectarian Protestant from
Belfast's Shankill Road, who was recruited in 1985 by British military
intelligence to act as an army agent in the UDA, which he had joined a
decade earlier. Nelson, a former soldier, had served with the Black Watch,
and later took a building job in Germany
He performed his delicate and dangerous new task with great enthusiasm. His
house and car, plus £200 a week expenses, were paid for by the British army
(the British taxpayer). In 1987, soon after his recruitment, Nelson went to
South Africa to shop for arms for the UDA and supervised the shipment of two
huge batches of arms, at least one of which ended up in the hands of the
paramilitaries.
Throughout his time in the UDA, Nelson worked closely with army
intelligence, whose policy at the time was shamelessly to take sides: for
the Protestant paramilitaries, who were seen as pro-British; and against the
IRA, who were seen as the enemy. This policy drew British military
intelligence into a gang war. Drawing on his sources in British
intelligence, Nelson would pass on the names and addresses of known IRA
activists to the UDA, whose gunmen would promptly go out and "execute"
thesuspects.
The success of Nelson's work commended him to the UDA hierarchy, who
appointed him "head of intelligence". But his system did not always work. In
May 1988, Terry McDaid, a bricklayer, was at home watching television when
masked gunmen smashed into his home and shot him dead. It was a mistake. The
gunmen were looking for Terry's brother Declan, whose name had been supplied
by Nelson.
The policy of consistent collusion between British army special forces and
Orange assassins was bitterly opposed in the 1970s by Colin Wallace, an army
information officer at Lisburn with strong connections to intelligence, and
Fred Holroyd, a British military intelligence officer in Northern Ireland.
Both men were denounced and sacked.
Wallace was framed, and jailed for killing his best friend. In 1996, 10
years after his release, his conviction was quashed by the court of appeal.
When Stevens discovered the role of Nelson in paramilitary sectarian
murders, he insisted on Nelson's prosecution, and he was arrested.
This caused dismay in the British army and its undercover organisation, the
Force Research Unit (FRU). Stevens was adamant that he could not condone
Nelson's behaviour, and frantic negotiations followed. For nearly two years,
Nelson was held in the relatively comfortable police "supergrass suite" in
Belfast.
A deal was finally clinched in January 1992. Nelson agreed to plead guilty
to five conspiracies to murder, and at least four sectarian murder charges
against him were dropped. In a bizarre court case lasting less than a day,
Nelson's real role was effectively covered up. After a moving tribute to his
sterling work for the British army from a then anonymous colonel, Nelson got
10 years.
Speaking from behind a security screen, and brushing aside Nelson's record
as an accomplice to murder, the colonel stressed the lives Nelson had
allegedly "saved". Nelson was released after serving less than half his
sentence, and spent the rest of his life under a false identity.
Stevens, however, was reluctant to leave the matter there. Assisted by Hugh
Orde, now chief constable in Northern Ireland, he continued his inquiries
into the complicity of army intelligence and the FRU with sectarian murder
gangs. Nelson was always at the centre of his inquiries.
The Stevens/Orde report is likely to deal in detail with many sectarian
murders of the time, including the appalling murder in his home in 1989 of
solicitor Pat Finucane. Nelson's premature death saves him from further
embarrassment. The anonymous "Colonel J" has since been identified as
Brigadier Gordon Kerr, now military attaché to the British embassy in
Beijing.
Nelson was married with three children.
· Brian Nelson, paramilitary, born 1948; died April 11 2003
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003
=========
An army agent in the UDA, he was implicated in sectarian murders
Paul Foot
Thursday April 17, 2003
The Guardian
Brian Nelson, who has died of a brain haemorrhage aged 55, features in
today's report by the Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir John Stevens. In
the early 1990s, Stevens, then a relatively lowly deputy chief constable in
Cambridgeshire, was asked to conduct an inquiry into the relationship
between the British army and Protestant paramilitaries, notably the Ulster
Defence Association.
He soon came across Nelson, a fanatical and sectarian Protestant from
Belfast's Shankill Road, who was recruited in 1985 by British military
intelligence to act as an army agent in the UDA, which he had joined a
decade earlier. Nelson, a former soldier, had served with the Black Watch,
and later took a building job in Germany
He performed his delicate and dangerous new task with great enthusiasm. His
house and car, plus £200 a week expenses, were paid for by the British army
(the British taxpayer). In 1987, soon after his recruitment, Nelson went to
South Africa to shop for arms for the UDA and supervised the shipment of two
huge batches of arms, at least one of which ended up in the hands of the
paramilitaries.
Throughout his time in the UDA, Nelson worked closely with army
intelligence, whose policy at the time was shamelessly to take sides: for
the Protestant paramilitaries, who were seen as pro-British; and against the
IRA, who were seen as the enemy. This policy drew British military
intelligence into a gang war. Drawing on his sources in British
intelligence, Nelson would pass on the names and addresses of known IRA
activists to the UDA, whose gunmen would promptly go out and "execute"
thesuspects.
The success of Nelson's work commended him to the UDA hierarchy, who
appointed him "head of intelligence". But his system did not always work. In
May 1988, Terry McDaid, a bricklayer, was at home watching television when
masked gunmen smashed into his home and shot him dead. It was a mistake. The
gunmen were looking for Terry's brother Declan, whose name had been supplied
by Nelson.
The policy of consistent collusion between British army special forces and
Orange assassins was bitterly opposed in the 1970s by Colin Wallace, an army
information officer at Lisburn with strong connections to intelligence, and
Fred Holroyd, a British military intelligence officer in Northern Ireland.
Both men were denounced and sacked.
Wallace was framed, and jailed for killing his best friend. In 1996, 10
years after his release, his conviction was quashed by the court of appeal.
When Stevens discovered the role of Nelson in paramilitary sectarian
murders, he insisted on Nelson's prosecution, and he was arrested.
This caused dismay in the British army and its undercover organisation, the
Force Research Unit (FRU). Stevens was adamant that he could not condone
Nelson's behaviour, and frantic negotiations followed. For nearly two years,
Nelson was held in the relatively comfortable police "supergrass suite" in
Belfast.
A deal was finally clinched in January 1992. Nelson agreed to plead guilty
to five conspiracies to murder, and at least four sectarian murder charges
against him were dropped. In a bizarre court case lasting less than a day,
Nelson's real role was effectively covered up. After a moving tribute to his
sterling work for the British army from a then anonymous colonel, Nelson got
10 years.
Speaking from behind a security screen, and brushing aside Nelson's record
as an accomplice to murder, the colonel stressed the lives Nelson had
allegedly "saved". Nelson was released after serving less than half his
sentence, and spent the rest of his life under a false identity.
Stevens, however, was reluctant to leave the matter there. Assisted by Hugh
Orde, now chief constable in Northern Ireland, he continued his inquiries
into the complicity of army intelligence and the FRU with sectarian murder
gangs. Nelson was always at the centre of his inquiries.
The Stevens/Orde report is likely to deal in detail with many sectarian
murders of the time, including the appalling murder in his home in 1989 of
solicitor Pat Finucane. Nelson's premature death saves him from further
embarrassment. The anonymous "Colonel J" has since been identified as
Brigadier Gordon Kerr, now military attaché to the British embassy in
Beijing.
Nelson was married with three children.
· Brian Nelson, paramilitary, born 1948; died April 11 2003
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003