FORMER RUC DETECTIVE TELLS OF SPECIAL BRANCH PROTECTION OF LOYALIST TERRORISTS

Yesterday a former RUC detective Johnston Brown was interviewed on BBC Radio 4's Take A Stand radio programme.

Brown has been hounded out of the RUC, with death threats and bombs.

Brown knows the true story behind the murder of Pat Finucane, that Special Branch knew that Finucane was going to be murdered and by whom but did nothing to stop it. He also tells of an incident when he arrested three Loyalists with guns and Special Branch were not happy.

So what? He believes that "sinister elements" within Special Branch are still out to kill him.

Does this show that this collusion between Special Branch and the Loyalist terrorists is just "protecting the realm" so to speak? Or were these "sinister elements" within Special Branch being used by an even more "sinister element" within British Intelligence that wanted terrorism to continue, by provoking Irish Republican terrorists into committing atrocities, thus leading to a fearful population ready to accept a Police State?

The BBC introduced the show with the following;
Fergal Keane talks to different individuals who, through personal conviction or circumstances, have taken a stand against something significant. What motivated them to act and what was the fallout of the decision?

Fergal Keane talks to Johnston Brown, a former RUC detective. When he joined the Royal Ulster Constabulary at the height of 'the Troubles' in the early 1970s, Johnston Brown thought he would be bringing criminals to justice.

Instead, he claims that he found instances of collusion between Special Branch officers and informers. Johnston Brown tells Fergal Keane about why he decided to speak out.

Into the Dark, by Johnston Brown, is published by Gill Macmillan, ISBN: 0717139506