Former detectives arrested as inquiry takes new twist

A POLICE Ombudsman inquiry into a series of loyalist murders in Belfast in the 1990s took a fresh twist yesterday with the arrest of two former RUC detectives.

A third former detective, Johnston ‘Jonty’ Brown was expected to be arrested last night when he returned to Belfast from Turkey.

Two premises, including Mr Brown’s home in Ballymena, were raided and items seized.

The two former detectives arrested yesterday morning were questioned about an attempt to pervert the course of justice and misconduct in public office.

One of those arrested is Mr Brown’s former CID partner, Trevor McIlrath.

The arrests are connected to an Ombudsman investigation into the 1997 UVF murder of 22-year-old Protestant man Raymond McCord, two of whose killers are alleged to have been Special Branch agents at the time.

The investigation has been widened to cover at least a dozen murders and two bombings in Co Monaghan by a UVF gang in the 1990s, alleged to have been carried out by the same gang with the knowledge of Special Branch.

Both Mr McIlrath and Mr Brown were involved in running Mark Haddock, the alleged leader of the UVF gang, as a CID agent and the pair investigated the murder of Raymond McCord.

However, Mr Brown has consistently accused Special Branch, who took control of Haddock, of obstructing attempts to bring UVF members to court.

Mr Brown was interviewed by the Stevens Inquiry and the Police Ombudsman before he retired from the RUC in 2001.

“This is about shutting you up as much as trying to make you amenable for minor breaches of confidence in public office,” he said yesterday.

“I have absolutely nothing to hide and nothing to fear.”