Security forces allegedly allowed terrorists to import weapons used for murder, court hears

The security forces allegedly permitted loyalist terrorists to import and distribute a shipment of weapons for use in a series of murders across Northern Ireland, the High Court heard today.

A judge was told former British Army agent Brian Nelson was linked to the operation to smuggle in the batch of guns from Beirut during the late 1980s.

The claims were made in legal action mounted by relatives of two victims of the paramilitary assassinations.

Patrick Frizzell and Margaret Lundy are both suing the PSNI and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) amid allegations the state assisted and facilitated loyalist groups involved in procuring and shipping the deadly arsenal into the jurisdiction.

In March 1991 Mr Frizzell’s brother, Brian Frizzell, was shot dead along with Eileen Duffy, 19, and 16-year-old Katrina Rennie by the UVF in Craigavon, Co Armagh.

Mrs Lundy’s husband, Alan Lundy, was gunned down by a UDA unit in May 1993 while carrying out construction work at the west Belfast home of Sinn Fein representative Alex Maskey.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs claim police and MI5 knew about loyalist plans to import hundreds of rifles, pistols and grenades via South Africa but did nothing to intercept the shipment.

The UDA, UVF and Ulster Clubs - a network of organisations which operated at the time - were said to have been making efforts to source weapons across Europe, the Middle East and North America.

In early 1988 police seized some of the Czech VZ58-type rifles, Browning 9mm pistols, Soviet anti-personnel grenades, a rocket-propelled launcher, ammunition, magazines, and pouches at locations in Belfast and Portadown.

But it is alleged that other imported weapons were stored by Co Armagh farmer James Mitchell and moved to safety after an RUC officer warned him about an imminent raid.

Mitchell, a former police reservist who died in 2008, had a conviction for a previous arms dump discovered on his premises near Glenanne during the 1970s.

Mr Frizzell and Mrs Lundy are suing the police and MoD, claiming misfeasance in public office and negligence in allowing the weapons sourced from Beirut into Northern Ireland.

With writs lodged in connection with a number of other Troubles killings connected to the same imported guns, their actions have been identified as lead cases.

A five-day trial has been listed to establish if state authorities are liable for allegedly assisting and facilitating loyalist terrorists in procuring and importing that shipment.

Although most of the case is being heard in closed session due to issues of national security, barristers representing both plaintiffs made statements in an open courtroom packed by the families of other victims.

Frank O’Donoghue KC, for Mrs Lundy, contended: “Agents of the state were aware of, permitted the use of and failed to prevent the use of at least one of the weapons used in this concerted murderous attack upon (her husband).”

It was claimed that Brian Nelson’s handlers had full knowledge that the guns had been imported into Northern Ireland.

The ex-British Army agent, who died in 2003, operated as the UDA’s intelligence chief while also recruited as an informer.

The court was told Nelson played a prominent role in the importing the weapons, one of which caused the death of Mr Lundy during an attempt to kill Mr Maskey.

“The fact this attack occurred using this weaponry is the product of the defendant’s collusive conduct with Protestant paramilitaries,” Mr O’Donoghue submitted.

He said the murder had “irrevocably” changed the lives of Mrs Lundy and the couple’s five children.

Brian Fee KC, representing Patrick Frizzell, detailed how some of the imported rifles and pistols were used by loyalist paramilitaries in a series of other murders and attempted murders.

Based on partial available information from previous investigations and a Police Ombudsman report into the Loughinisland murders, he set out a series of questions for the court to explore during the closed session.

Mr Fee sought answers on how intelligence about the weapons importation was received and assessed, as well as querying why James Mitchell was not questioned or his farm identified sooner as a potential location for the loading of arms.

“Who was informed of the plan to search the farm, why was it not searched earlier, did someone inform Mitchell of the intended search and, if so, who?” he asked.

“If police knew that they had only recovered a portion of the weapons which had been imported into the country, what steps were taken to recover the remainder and were those steps adequate?”

Before going into closed session, where special advocates will represent the plaintiff’s interests, Mr Justice Humphreys pledged to provide as much information as he can in an open judgment.

He assured the families: “While a number of documents require to be carefully examined and in some cases entirely protected from disclosure (for national security reasons) the court will always work on the basis that if it is possible to put material into the public domain it will do so.”

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