Ten-Thirty-Three
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But many other statements made to that Belfast Crown Court concerning Nelson and his role were problematic. It was claimed that the agent was a prolific provider of information and that the Army Intelligence unit produced 730 reports concerning threats to 217 individuals as a result of Nelson’s information; that large amounts of UDA intelligence material was passed from the UDA to Nelson’s home; that army handlers helped Nelson move UDA documents to a new address; and that the army photocopied UDA documents for Nelson.
In mitigation, Desmond Boal said that Nelson had been of enormous service to the community and that many lives had been saved as a result of his activities; that Nelson had not been loyal to the UDA but loyal to the army. He concluded: ‘Nelson was a victim of the system, and his was a case that should be regarded as wholly exceptional.’
Jailing Nelson for ten years, Lord Justice Basil Kelly said that the forty-four-year-old UDA intelligence officer had gone beyond what was required of him by the army and involved himself with the murder gangs. The judge believed Nelson had played a ‘double game’, working with the UDA and as an agent for Army Intelligence, ‘that he had with the greatest courage submitted himself to constant danger and intense strain for three years . . . and that he had passed on possibly life-saving information in respect of 217 threatened individuals.’
Ten-Thirty-Three’s short period as a double agent raised many serious issues relating to policing, covert intelligence and the administration of justice in Northern Ireland. In the Brian Nelson affair the facts have revealed that senior government ministers, MI5 and Military Intelligence came to the conclusion that it was justifiable for the authorities to violate the rule of law in fighting a ‘dirty war’. It has happened in other democracies faced with similar threats. Those who say such a decision can never be justified will be accused of living in a dream world; those who accept that the means justifies the end will be accused of descending to the level of the terrorists, abandoning the moral high ground which separates the lawful from the lawless.
Table of Contents
List of Abbreviations
Author’s Note
1. The Conspiracy
2. The Recruit
3. The Force Research Unit
4. Enter MI5
5. Thatcher’s Baptism of Fire
6. Violence and Murder
7. Partners in Crime
8. The Killing Machine
9. Shoot to Kill
10. The Murder of Patrick Finucane
11. Saving Gerry Adams
12. Kill, Kill, Kill
13. Out of Control
14. The Cover-Up