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http://www.irishecho.com/newspaper/story.cfm?id=19018
Belfast man counts days as appeal proceeds
By Ray O'Hanlon
January 28, 2009 Chalk up a year behind bars for Pól Brennan. The Belfast native and California resident is marking a year of imprisonment this Thursday.
And his appeal against a judge's order of deportation will, as a result, continue into a second twelve months.
"My appeal is in," Brennan told the Echo from the facility in Port Isabel, Texas, that he currently calls home.
"And the Ancient Order of Hibernians are starting up their campaign on my behalf again." Brennan said, sounding, a little more cheerful than in previous phone interviews.
"I was sworn in as a Hibernian over the phone. They have been very helpful," Brennan added.
Brennan described the last twelve months as "a lost year,' though one that in its very particular way has been an interesting and instructive experience.
Asked how he had passed Christmas, Brennan managed a laugh.
"It was just another day. We had pizza. But they allowed us extra TV time to see the Pope say Mass."
Brennan acknowledged that his appeal against deportation could take months.
And he wasn't overly optimistic of its success.
The judge in the case, he said, had invoked a terrorism clause even though prosecutors were not seeking it. This, he said, made it more difficult for politicians trying to help his case.
A federal immigration judge ruled at the end of November that the Maze escapee should be deported from the U.S.
Brennan's family in Northern Ireland has appealed to the U.S. government to allow Brennan to remain in the U.S where he has lived for the past 25 years.
The 55-year-old Brennan was one of 38 IRA prisoners who escaped from Long Kesh prison in 1983.
He fled to the U.S. and was arrested a decade later living under a new identity in San Francisco.
Brennan was charged with illegally entering the U.S. However, his problems appeared to end in 2000 when the British government dropped extradition proceedings against him.
This week a year ago he was arrested in Texas for having an out of date work permit. Brennan had applied for a renewal but the document had not been sent to him by the time he was detained by border patrol agents.
Brennan has been held in a variety of facilities in Texas and New Mexico since his detention.
One positive aspect of his incarceration at Port Isabel is that his U.S. citizen, wife Joanna Volz, is able to stay just half an hour's drive away with her mother.
This story appeared in the issue of January 22-February 3, 2009
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/death-threats-led-to-cancellation-of-hamill-murder-inquest-14161017.html
By Victoria O’Hara
Thursday, 29 January 2009
Northern Ireland’s senior coroner John Leckey last night said evidence from a key witness to Robert Hamill’s murder was “compelling”, but cancelled the inquest nine years ago because of threats to the witness’s life.
Speaking at the inquiry into the 25-year-old’s murder, Mr Leckey said he had spoken to two key witnesses, Tracey Clarke and Timothy Jameson, before his decision in June 2000.
Mr Hamill, a Catholic, died after he was kicked to death by a loyalist mob in Portadown in 1997. Both Ms Clarke and Mr Jameson had made statements to the police about the events surrounding Mr Hamill’s killing.
Ms Clarke had originally claimed she saw men jumping on Mr Hamill’s head and kicking him. She also named people she saw involved.
The inquiry heard that one of the men she named was Allister Hanvey, who was her boyfriend — but according to documents read out by leading counsel Ashley Underwood, they were, at the time, “on one day, off the next”. Part of Ms Clarke’s original statement to the RUC was shown to the panel.
She said she had spoken to Mr Hanvey after Mr Hamill had died and claimed he told her he had jumped on his head and kicked his head.
However, both witnesses refused to go to court, leading to the prosecution of a number of men collapsing. The two witnesses did not want their names or statements read out during an inquest into Mr Hamill’s murder.
Mr Leckey, who was coroner for the Greater Belfast area at the time, said he had to consider whether to hold the inquest in a “simplified” form and conceal the evidence of Tracey Clarke and Timothy Jameson, or to inform the Hamill family solicitor of the gist of their evidence, knowing that both witnesses feared for their personal safety.
Mr Leckey said he took legal advice and was told to “satisfy himself” in his decision and not to rely on police. The inquiry heard that in November 1999, Mr Leckey spoke to Ms Clarke on the telephone.
Mr Leckey described her as being frightened for her personal safety and “very tearful and genuine”. She told him she had been threatened by loyalists and had to leave Portadown. Mr Leckey said that she feared that “even reading out her statement or being referred to by a code would identify her”.
She told him if that happened she would have to leave her present address and possibly her present employment. Ms Clarke was described as being relieved when told she would not be named or have her statement read at the inquest.
However, Mr Leckey said when he spoke to Timothy Jameson on the phone he found him “unco-operative and morose”. “He repeated that he didn’t want to be involved and didn’t want anything to do with the incident,” he said.
Mr Leckey said he felt the information given by Ms Clarke was “compelling evidence” of what had happened. He added that he had no indication that words had been put into her mouth. And he was “convinced it was truthful”.
However, Ms Clarke, who was due to appear at the inquiry yesterday, failed to attend. At hearing.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/robert-hamill-inquiry-teen-said-he-put-the-boot-in-hearing-told-14162655.html
Friday, 30 January 2009
A witness to the murder of Robert Hamill told policemen who were visiting his father’s home that he “put the boot in” the night the 25-year-old was killed, the Hamill inquiry heard yesterday.
The inquiry was told that teenager Timothy Jameson had previously denied seeing the assault in Portadown |centre in the early hours of April 27, 1997.
The attack, during a confrontation between Protestant and Catholic gangs, was |carried out in view of a Land Rover in which four RUC |officers were sitting.
Retired RUC detective Edward Honeyford said he was ordered to interview teenager Timothy Jameson as a matter of urgency for the second time on May 9, 1997.
He had already carried out a short interview two days after the attack — but Mr Honeyford said he was not told the exact reasons why the interview was to be carried out so urgently.
The inquiry was shown an extract from a statement by Witness G — an officer whose anonymity is being protected — who described being at the house of Mr Jameson's father Bobby, who did contract work for police, on May 9.
Witness G's draft statement said that Mr Jameson told them he knew more than he had said in his first statement and that he had “put the boot in”.
“Timothy Jameson was quite calm and matter of fact when he told us about that,” Witness G’s statement read.
“He didn’t appear to be frivolous or bragging — he seemed to be serious.
“He was fully aware we were police officers and probably knew that we would report it.
“I am certain that Timothy Jameson did state that he had “put the boot in” to to us.”
Mr Honeyford, who left the police in 2002, said he had not been aware at the time of the nature of the information which had reached the officers. Had he known that there was a chance Mr Jameson was involved, he would have carried out the interview with him as a suspect and under caution.
But Mr Jameson eventually withdrew his statement and said the detective had “put words in his mouth”, which Mr Honeyford denied.
Jonathan Wright claimed in a statement, which was shown to the inquiry, that Mr Honeyford threatened him in an interview, telling him he would not be able go on holiday with his girlfriend and that his father, a clergyman, would be humiliated by his son's name being linked to the case.
These allegations were “totally wrong,” Mr Honeyford said.
“I couldn’t tell that to a |witness. There would be |absolutely no point. If his father worked for the Church of Ireland, that’s the first I heard of it.”
Mr Honeyford is to resume evidence today.
At hearing.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/family-alleges-police-conspiracy-over-mumrsquos-plastic-bullet-death-14162613.html
Friday, 30 January 2009
Police officers may have plotted to pervert the course of justice after an innocent mother of three was killed by a plastic bullet nearly 28 years ago, judges heard yesterday.
Lawyers for the husband of Nora McCabe also claimed the RUC man who fired the fatal round meant to seriously or fatally wound her.
Mrs McCabe (33), died after being struck on the head by a baton round on the Falls Road, west Belfast, in July 1981.
Her family have launched a legal challenge against decisions by the Director of Public Prosecutions two years later not to charge anyone with her murder, or for perjury at the subsequent inquest.
They are also seeking leave to apply for a judicial review of the reasons given last year for the failure to prosecute over the death.
Claiming both the 1983 and 2008 decisions were irrational, illegal and wrong in law, Mr McCabe’s barrister, Barry Macdonald QC, told a Divisional Court panel that the application arose from one of the most notorious episodes of Northern Ireland’s Troubles.
A key part of the case centred on footage shot by a Canadian television crew who were in Belfast at the time of Mrs McCabe’s death to cover the republican hunger strikes.
The Public Prosecution Service claimed police assertions about general disorder and rioting in the area were borne out by the film, the court heard.
It was also stated that prosecutions were not brought because it was impossible to disprove police allegations that two petrol bombers were nearby when Mrs McCabe was shot.
And the PPS took the view that a court could not be certain that the officer who fired the fatal plastic bullet — identified as Witness A — intended to kill or cause serious injury.
But seeking to demolish the reasons, Mr Macdonald claimed the footage played in court proved the police depiction of rioting and disorder in the area was false.
He said: “This film discredits completely the accounts made under oath by five police officers, and the account given by Witness A.”
The barrister told the judges that after a civil action brought by Mr McCabe was settled, a statement was read out which “comprehensively destroyed” the evidence given by police at the inquest.
He added: “It is clear that Mrs McCabe died as a result of injuries sustained when she was struck by a plastic bullet and that that plastic bullet was fired by a police officer, namely Witness A.
“Given the apparent similarities between some of the false evidence given by police officers it appears that there may have been a conspiracy between them aimed at perverting the course of justice.
“In those circumstances, and when the video and civilian |evidence ... are considered, a court could be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the police officer who fired at Mrs McCabe intended to kill her or seriously injure her.”
Lawyers for the PPS based their opposition to the application on the passage of time and how no new facts had emerged since 1983.
With judges hearing the case |reserving their decision, Mr McCabe explained outside the court why he brought the case.
Accompanied by his two sons and daughter, the 61-year-old said: “For too long my children have had to live with the fact that no one was held responsible.
“No-one gave a reason for Nora’s death and no-one was made amenable before the courts.
“I want to be able to answer a question my children have been asking me since they were young, and to answer my grandchildren.
“That question is ‘Why did they kill my granny or my mummy?’
“I have been unable to give that answer. There’s an emptiness, a void there and we cannot even begin to have closure until we get some form of explanation at least.”
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0129/breaking73.htm
Thu, Jan 29, 2009
The British government has warned loyalist paramilitaries that an extended decommissioning amnesty will be cut short if they fail to co-operate.
Northern Ireland Secretary of State Shaun Woodward said if armed loyalist groups show no willingness to decommission their arsenal in the coming months then legislation that offers them effective immunity from prosecution for giving up their guns will end.
Mr Woodward had originally announced a 12-month extension to the current Decommissioning Order, which will come into effect next month. However, he has now pledged to annul that law after six months if loyalists fail to engage sufficiently with the International Independent Commission for Decommissioning (IICD).
The move follows pressure from the Northern Ireland Police Federation, which represents serving and retired officers in the region. It was unhappy with the decision to extend an amnesty that was first introduced in 1997.
While the IRA has put its arsenal out of use, groups such as the UDA and UVF remain armed despite being on ceasefire. Th Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) has expressed concerns that some loyalists are now attempting to obtain more guns.
The renewed effort to persuade loyalists to disarm comes against the backdrop of an upsurge in violent activity by dissident republicans.
Police Federation chair Terry Spence said the governments had pandered to loyalists for long enough. “Both the Irish and British governments have, at various times over the past decade, been bluffed into renewing the legislation without seeing any reward for their patience,” he said.
Mr Spence said there was no appetite in the North for another extension to the amnesty. “Instead, the political and community consensus is that the so-called loyalist paramilitaries have had eleven years in which to complete, nevermind begin, decommissioning of weapons and munitions and that their stance is one of criminal defiance,” he said.
PA
© 2009 irishtimes.com
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/amid-the-quarrels-a-shaft-of-hope-for-bitter-victims-of-the-troubles-1519077.html
Launch of proposals for payments to Troubles victims divides and unites audience
By David Young
Thursday, 29 January 2009
They stood head to head, eyeballing each other; trading insults, fighting back the tears.
On one side the brother of a teenage IRA member shot dead by the British Army in Londonderry; on the other a daughter who lost her parents in an IRA bomb attack on a fish shop in the loyalist Shankill Road, Belfast.
Daniel Bradley, a Catholic already incensed by unionist protests which delayed the start of proceedings, could barely contain himself as Michelle Williamson, a Protestant, let fly.
It was as if years of bitterness and pain for each other's traditions suddenly exploded. A sad and distressing exchange between two people who had never met before.
With very contrasting opinions on the contentious Troubles legacy report – the launch of which they attended yesterday – they traded angry words for almost five minutes, both making sure the other knew exactly how much pain they had suffered.
Then suddenly Mr Bradley tentatively reached out his right hand. She took it cautiously and in a remarkable act of conciliation the pair wished each other well. "We need to move on," he said as he clasped her palm. "We have to put this behind us."
It was a rare shaft of light on a day when many of Northern Ireland's dark shadows ominously reappeared in the Europa Hotel's Grand Ballroom.
Ms Williamson was there to protest – angry at the proposal to compensate relatives of dead paramilitaries like Mr Bradley. "He told me his brother died for the cause," she said. "Well, my mother and father died with shopping bags in their hands, innocent victims. But we shook hands. That does give me a glimmer of hope for the new Northern Ireland."
Few expected the launch of the consultative group's recommendations about payouts for victims of the Troubles to pass without incident. Demonstrators picketed the front entrance, then formed a protest line inside.
Euro MP and leader of the Traditional Unionist Voice, Jim Allister, was prominent, no doubt with an eye on the forthcoming European elections. Tormentor-in-chief of the Democratic Unionists, who resigned from the party over its decision to enter power sharing with Sinn Fein, he branded the report as amoral and another sop to republicanism. Victims' campaigner Willie Frazer, who lost five family members at the hands of the IRA, was also among the dissenting voices.
Much ire was aimed at Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, one of the guests. He sat impassively as he was subjected to a barrage of insults.
And as the voices of the Protestant demonstrators rose, so inevitably came retorts from republican victims' groups at the other side of the room. Among those who sat uncomfortably as the brickbats flew was Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde, who had just learnt that he had missed out on becoming Commissioner of the Met. He was joined by the former Met commissioner Lord (John) Stevens, who 10 years ago led an investigation into paramilitary collusion with the security forces.
Yet while the heated exchanges made for dramatic TV images, the warm applause for Lord Eames and Denis Bradley at the close suggested that the silent majority was perhaps not as outraged with their proposals as the few who vented their anger.
Admitting their report wasn't perfect, the co-authors urged their audience to at least give it a chance.
As the crowds drifted from the hall, most were content to do just that. "If we don't take action now," Mr Bradley told them of the lingering hurt, "it will move to the generation not yet born and the cycle will begin again". His words rang true for many, but so too had the opening remarks from Brian Currin, a South African mediator. He said: "The peace process, as we well know, has a long, long journey to go."
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/education/dup-blocked-11plus-talks-ruane-14162612.html
Friday, 30 January 2009
Education minister Caitriona Ruane last night announced she is to push ahead with plans to axe academic selection despite the ongoing political deadlock over the issue.
The Sinn Fein minister said the intransigence of unionist opponents in the Executive had left her little option than to proceed without agreement.
Unable to bring forward legislative changes in the absence of cabinet approval, she now intends to issue ‘guidance’ to schools on how to manage the transfer procedure from this autumn onwards.
However, with no regulated framework in place, many grammars in both the controlled and Catholic sector now look even more likely to ignore the minister’s advice and follow through on threats to set up their own entrance exams.
Ms Ruane, who accused the DUP of blocking discussion on new reform proposals at an Executive meeting meeting, said she had no choice but to push ahead without consensus.
“The time for discussion is over,” she said.
“The DUP refused to discuss it and now I’m moving on.”
The DUP said the proposals Ms Ruane brought to the executive were nothing new and did not offer the basis of a compromise.
With the 11-plus now axed, the minister said the guidance will inform schools how current primary six pupils will transfer to secondary school in 2010.
She is set to outline her plans to the Assembly on Monday.
The minister had sought political consensus on her plans to phase out academic selection over a three-year period, allowing grammars to select 50% of pupils on those criteria in 2010/11, 30% the following year and 20% in 2012/13 — all based on a test devised by the Northern Ireland exams body CCEA.
However, with no Executive agreement on those proposals, the minister said she will now sit down with her officials to devise alternative guidance for schools.