Loyalist killer ‘was shielded by detectives’

LOYALIST killer Torrens Knight was a double agent shielded by the Special Branch before he murdered eight people in the Greysteel massacre, SDLP Assembly member John Dallat claimed yesterday.

Allegations that a rifle later used in the atrocity was moved before officers could recover it are being examined by the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan.

Mr Dallat said a Royal Irish Regiment (RIR) soldier had backed up his concerns. He said: “In recent weeks a serving member of the RIR telephoned me to say the guns were moved by a member of the Special Branch who was protecting the identity of Knight, who was a double agent.