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13/01/2003
Former Special Branch chief was ‘forced out’
The former head of police Special Branch in Belfast has said he was forced out of his job by MI5 in order to appease Sinn Féin after the police carried out a high-profile raid on the party's Stormont offices last year.
In an interview with a leading English newspaper, Bill Lowry, 55, said he retired in November 2001 after he was "threatened with disciplinary action and a transfer to another section".
He said he believed his willingness to pursue the IRA's alleged involvement in intelligence gathering in the Northern Ireland Office led to his removal.
Northern Ireland’s power-sharing institutions were suspended on 14 October following a row over allegations of IRA activity, including alleged spying within the NIO. Mr Lowry, as head of Special Branch in Belfast, oversaw the highly publicised operation codenamed Torsion.
Mr Lowry said a call from a senior MI5 officer to the Chief Constable of the PSNI, Hugh Orde, led directly to his departure from the service – which he had served for over 30 years.
“I was the fall guy for the raid on Stormont,” he said. “I was given as a gift to Sinn Féin to try to make the talks work.”
Mr Lowry further alleged in the Daily Telegraph report that the national security service MI5 were trying to "muscle in" on Northern Ireland Special Branch territory. He said that following a review which was ordered by Hugh Orde into leaks to the media about the break-in at Castlereagh security complex last March and the investigation into alleged IRA spying at Stormont, MI5 would be placed to take control of intelligence gathering in Northern Ireland as on the British mainland.
The Policing Board confirmed they received a request from Mr Lowry asking for an independent inquiry. This request was passed onto the Police Ombudsman who investigates police complaints. However the Ombudsman returned the request because the complaint had not been made under the correct legislation of the Police Service of Northern Ireland Act 1998.
DUP Policing Board member Sammy Wilson said the complaint was so serious it could not be ignored. He said either agency could carry out the investigation.
"Either the Ombudsman could undertake a full inquiry because this is a public interest matter, or the board could undertake an inquiry bringing in an outside police officer to investigate what could be regarded as an internal police matter,” he said.
(AMcE)
In an interview with a leading English newspaper, Bill Lowry, 55, said he retired in November 2001 after he was "threatened with disciplinary action and a transfer to another section".
He said he believed his willingness to pursue the IRA's alleged involvement in intelligence gathering in the Northern Ireland Office led to his removal.
Northern Ireland’s power-sharing institutions were suspended on 14 October following a row over allegations of IRA activity, including alleged spying within the NIO. Mr Lowry, as head of Special Branch in Belfast, oversaw the highly publicised operation codenamed Torsion.
Mr Lowry said a call from a senior MI5 officer to the Chief Constable of the PSNI, Hugh Orde, led directly to his departure from the service – which he had served for over 30 years.
“I was the fall guy for the raid on Stormont,” he said. “I was given as a gift to Sinn Féin to try to make the talks work.”
Mr Lowry further alleged in the Daily Telegraph report that the national security service MI5 were trying to "muscle in" on Northern Ireland Special Branch territory. He said that following a review which was ordered by Hugh Orde into leaks to the media about the break-in at Castlereagh security complex last March and the investigation into alleged IRA spying at Stormont, MI5 would be placed to take control of intelligence gathering in Northern Ireland as on the British mainland.
The Policing Board confirmed they received a request from Mr Lowry asking for an independent inquiry. This request was passed onto the Police Ombudsman who investigates police complaints. However the Ombudsman returned the request because the complaint had not been made under the correct legislation of the Police Service of Northern Ireland Act 1998.
DUP Policing Board member Sammy Wilson said the complaint was so serious it could not be ignored. He said either agency could carry out the investigation.
"Either the Ombudsman could undertake a full inquiry because this is a public interest matter, or the board could undertake an inquiry bringing in an outside police officer to investigate what could be regarded as an internal police matter,” he said.
(AMcE)
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