SF vents fury as ‘spy-ring’ three acquitted

THE acquittal in Belfast of three men accused of operating a spy ring at Stormont shows the spirit of the RUC’s Special Branch still exists, Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness said yesterday.

Following the decision at Belfast Crown Court to drop charges against Sinn Féin’s head of administration Denis Donaldson, his son-in-law Ciaran Kearney and civil servant William Mackessy, Mr McGuinness said the allegation of a spy ring was concocted in 2002 to destroy political progress.

“We said very clearly at the time of that event that this case would fall apart,” the Mid Ulster MP said.

“There was no evidence whatsoever to sustain it and we have been proven correct. This is a shameful episode, a damning indictment of the fact that the spirit of the RUC Special Branch is effectively alive and well within the PSNI.

“There never was a spy ring operating at Stormont.”

Mr Donaldson, aged 55, and his 34-year-old son-in-law had been accused of having documents of use to terrorists.

A third man, 47-year-old civil servant William Mackessy, was charged with collecting information on the security forces.

In a dramatic development, prosecutors told Belfast Crown Court that no further evidence would be put forward and the prosecution was no longer in the public interest.

Mr Justice Harte said a verdict of not guilty had to be returned and he told the men they were now free.

Police raided Sinn Féin’s offices at Stormont when allegations of a spy ring surfaced.

The accusations plunged the North’s power-sharing institutions into crisis, with unionists threatening to collapse the executive with resignations.

The British government suspended devolution, embarking on three years of direct rule.

In a statement after yesterday’s hearing, Ciaran Shiels, of the Madden and Finucane law firm which represented Mr Donaldson and Mr Mackessy, said both men believed they were the victims of a political operation by elements within the security forces.

“Our clients are of the clear view that they were victims of a political operation by elements within the security forces who deliberately used their position to hamper political progress,” Mr Shiels said.

Democratic Unionist Policing Board member Ian Paisley Junior said the decision was deeply disturbing and a sop to Sinn Féin.