Former CID detective hits out at police ombudsman searches in North

A former police detective-turned-whistleblower on collusion between loyalists and the RUC has said ombudsman searches at his home will deter other police officers from speaking out.

Former CID detective Johnston Brown said the message being sent out by the raid is that anyone who speaks out against collusion will be targeted.

Retired senior detective Johnston Brown, who wrote a book called Into The Dark about his time in the RUC, was on holiday when he heard about the raid on his home.

He said that and a similar one at the home of another former detective, Trevor McIlwrath, who has also spoken out, will discourage others, at least a dozen, he said, who are considering telling what they know about collusion between Special Branch and loyalists.

He said the ombudsman's office is not the proper vehicle for rooting out those within Special Branch whom he calls "criminals" and that he now expects to be arrested when he returns home.