Intelligence 'unaware of Kincora abuse at the time'

The intelligence services knew nothing about child abuse at Kincora boys home until after the scandal broke some years later, a lawyer has said.

Counsel for the police invited the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) Inquiry to strike down allegations which it was claimed were fuelled by a small number of individuals who failed to give evidence.

Former Army officer Colin Wallace has been a key voice in claims of a cover-up by intelligence services of sex abuse at the former Kincora Boys' Home. He declined to appear before the panel.

Neasa Murnaghan, who represents the Northern Ireland Office, MI5 and MI6 and the Ministry of Defence, said: "This inquiry should be able to conclude firstly that each of the four core participants knew nothing relevant about child abuse in Kincora until after the scandal broke in the middle of the 1980s, that all of the efforts to the contrary are without foundation and don't withstand scrutiny."

She said there was no shred of cogent evidence to support any of his claims that MI5 was running an intelligence operation in Kincora.

Mark Robinson, for the PSNI, asked the inquiry to dismiss the allegations. "I would invite the panel to strike them down - they serve no further purpose."

He added: "It will dispel the sordid headlines that have reached the public and fuelled this ongoing episode."