Mole who infiltrated IRA attacks biopic
· Former agent McGartland says motives are distorted
· Two controversial films on Troubles debut at Cannes
Henry McDonald and Charlotte Higgins in Cannes
The Guardian, Friday 16 May 2008
One of the most important agents to infiltrate the IRA has publicly distanced himself from a biopic of his life which is being marketed at this year's Cannes film festival.
Fifty Dead Men Walking, starring Sir Ben Kingsley as the mole's Royal Ulster Constabulary handler, is based on the autobiographical book of the same name by Martin McGartland. As "agent Carol", McGartland undermined the IRA in Belfast during the later years of the Troubles, foiling dozens of murders and bombings.
The west Belfast man, who jumped through a bathroom window to escape his IRA interrogators after he was discovered, has told the Guardian the script "totally distorted" his story, and he plans to take legal action unless radical changes are made to the film before it is released.
A second controversial film based on the Troubles had its premiere at the festival yesterday. Steve McQueen's Hunger, which focuses on the death of Bobby Sands after 66 days without food, prompted both applause and walkouts as it opened the Un Certain Régard section.
McGartland, who had initially been delighted with the idea of turning his life into a film, said his principal objection was the way the script portrayed him as a disgruntled IRA member who breaks ranks to work as an RUC special branch agent for money. "That version of events is wholly untrue. I went into the IRA to infiltrate them. Prior to being recruited as a special branch agent I wasn't in the IRA, I wanted nothing to do with them, in truth I hated them."
He said his real motivation was revenge. "I did it because I saw my friends beaten up by the IRA," he said.
"The film company have told me this is only loosely based on my life but it's my life all the same. I was shot here in England by the IRA for what I did to the Belfast Brigade. My mother's house was attacked, my brother left for dead after a beating long after I was gone from Belfast and in hiding. They should have represented my story more accurately and fairly."
A spokesman for Future Films Limited, the company that co-financed Fifty Dead Men Walking, stressed that the movie was still in post-production and said McGartland had not seen it, so was not placed to make a final judgement.
He said McGartland may be shown the final cut before it is released. The film was shot last December in Northern Ireland.
The IRA unmasked McGartland as an informer in 1991 and came close to killing him after an interrogation at a flat in west Belfast. But the agent escaped by leaping out of a bathroom window on the third or fourth floor of a block of flats. In 1999 the IRA tracked McGartland down to a coastal town in north-east England and two men shot him six times, but failed to kill him.
Turner prize winner Steve McQueen's Hunger is a violent and disturbing vision of life in the Maze prison during the second hunger strike of 1981, and is Britain's most prominent entry at Cannes.
Though the film is even-handed, following the lives of both inmates and guards, it will doubtless stir bitter memories.
It shows the pain and physical deterioration of Sands as he lost liver, pancreas, kidney and heart functions and his emaciated body became covered in sores. Actor Michael Fassbender, who plays Sands, went from 73kg (11st 6lbs) to 57kg (9st) over two months under medical supervision.
"The film obviously stems from politics," said McQueen, "but it is about people in an extreme situation on either side, both prisoners and prison officers. I am interested in what happens to people in those kind of conditions. It is about the smell, the atmosphere, the texture of those events; about the things between the words in history books."
Though he started work on the film before the outbreak of the Iraq war, he said the contemporary parallels had become unavoidable. "It is history repeating itself, in a sense. The body as a weapon for people who are not being heard."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/may/16/cannesfilmfestival.northernireland
Friday, May 16, 2008
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Northumbria Police failings leads to Martin McGartland shooting by IRA - Northumbria Police Cover Up
Taken From Book, Fifty Dead Men Walking, by Martin McGartland;-
On Thursday morning in June 1999 I unlocked the car door, sat inside the car and started the engine. But before I could close the door I sensed someone was nearby. I looked up, saw this man wearing a green coat with a gun pointing at me. Instinctively, I lifted my right arm to protect myself. A split second later I felt two thuds hit my right side, the shock reverberating through my body.
I knew in that instant that this gunman was a Provo assassin and from the impact the bullets made on my body I guessed he was using a heavy calibre round, probably a 9mm fired from an automatic. But thank God my brain was still working and I knew that I had to stop him shooting me again. I knew he would go for my head; I knew he would have been told exactly where to target and what to do.
The power of the shots had thrown my body across the car seat to the passenger side and the gunman stretched out his arm so that his gun was close to my head. Before he could pull the trigger I somehow managed to grab the barrel of the gun with my left hand and it went off, the bullet ripping through my hand and lodging in my stomach.
I tried to keep hold of the gun. Something inside my head told me that I had to keep hold of that gun if I was to survive. I wanted to turn the gun so that if he pulled the trigger he would shoot himself. But my strength was fading fast. I felt suddenly powerless, almost at his mercy. I tried to hang on to the gun but I couldn’t. With a concerted tug he managed to wrench the gun from my hand. At that instant I believed I was a dead man.
But the will to survive, to live another day, took over and something stirred deep inside me. I wasn’t finished yet. I tried to lunge towards him again, to grab the gun, but I simply didn’t have the strength. He stepped back a pace and fired four more times hitting me twice in the chest, in the stomach and in the top of the leg.
I heard the ‘tap-tap’ of the automatic and two bullets thudded into my chest with real force. The pain surged through my body and the power of those bullets sent me sprawling backwards across the car seats. I thought he had shot me in the heart and I knew that would be curtains. Before I could sit up I heard the sound of two more ‘tap-taps’ and I felt pain in my stomach and in the top of my leg. I could do nothing to protect myself. I couldn’t move. I was now at his mercy. This was the end.
I thought in that split second that I didn’t want to die, sprawled on the front seat of a car, my body punctured by bullets from a Provo gunman. My mind flashed to the number of times I had seen others killed in this way in Northern Ireland over the years, their dead, broken bodies sprawled grotesquely in the cars they were driving. Something told me that I had to survive.
For what seemed like seconds I waited for more bullets but there were none. I looked up and he had gone, disappeared from sight. Convinced that he had carried out his mission, certain that I was dead, the bastard had fled.
I realised that grabbing that gun had so disorientated the Provo gunman that he panicked. I knew the Prove orders – always shoot people in the head because then we know they’re dead men. And dead men can’t talk.
It took me a couple of seconds to collect my thoughts. I guessed he wouldn’t return for he must have thought that with seven rounds inside me from something like a 9mm automatic I hadn’t a hope in hell of surviving. I wasn’t too sure myself at that stage. Now the pain began to take over, wracking my chest, my side, my stomach and my leg. I looked at my thumb hanging by a thread and repeated over and over, ‘fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck’. Somehow, swearing like that helped me get my head together.
I told myself that I was alive and that if I could stay alive until I got to hospital I would be okay. But how the hell could I get to hospital like this? I thought of trying to drive and then told myself I was being stupid. I hoped to hell someone had heard the sound of shots.
As I struggled to get out of the car, to get help, I felt again the thudding impact of the bullets each time they hit my body, knocking me backwards, knocking the stuffing out of me, preventing me from lunging at him and getting the gun. I managed to pull myself out of the car and then I collapsed onto the ground. I knew I had been shot six or seven times, but I was still breathing, though blood was pumping from my chest, my side and my stomach and my thumb looked as though it had been shot away.
My only fear was that I would lie in that garage and bleed to death. I put my arm across my chest to try and stop the blood gushing out but it was everywhere. I wondered if the Prove bastard had hit my heart or a main artery and realised that I had to stay conscious. I tried to feel my heart to see if it was okay and felt it pumping away. But I worried in case all the blood was being pumped out of my body rather than round my arteries.
I kept telling myself that whatever happened I must not fall asleep though I felt like closing my eyes and drifting off into oblivion. I kept talking to myself, saying over and over again, ‘If you fall asleep you will never wake again. If you fall unconscious you will simply die. Now, for fuck’s sake keep awake.’
And then I felt pain. A minute or so must have passed since the Provo bastard ran off, and, until that moment there had been little pain. Now the pain wracked my body, my chest, my side, my stomach, my arm, my hand. Shit, it hurt. I gritted my teeth to try and stop the pain hurting so much but I couldn’t. I kept talking to myself, telling myself that I could handle the pain as long as I lived. I tried telling myself that the pain wasn’t that bad but it was getting to me. I just wanted to curl up and sleep.
I also realised that if I didn’t get to hospital quickly I would die. I tried to shout for help but the words wouldn’t come. Somehow I couldn’t find the strength to shout for help, only moans came from my throat. Alone in that garage, with the blood pouring out of my body and with my chest, side and stomach pumping blood through my clothes and on to the floor, I felt my life was over. The bastard Provos had got their revenge.
Then I heard voices shouting ‘Marty’ and it was the most glorious sound of my entire life. Now there was hope. I managed to open my eyes and through blurred vision I recognised my neighbours, the Connon family, bending over me asking if I was alright.
Jesus, it was good to see them; I could have cried when I realised they had come to the rescue; had come to help me. I knew the whole family. They were good, honest people and I knew in that instant that they would help me and save me. Somewhere in my mind I recalled that their elder son Adam, aged around eighteen, had studied first aid and that his mother Andrea was something to do with a hospital.
I heard them asking me questions and I can’t recall if I replied or not. My memory was going and so was my brain. I think I murmured ‘fucking Provos’.
‘Keep quiet, stay still,’ Adam said. ‘An ambulance is on the way. Just lie still and you’ll be okay.’
Adam took off my T-shirt and someone ran off and returned with cling film which he wrapped around my chest and my side in an effort to stem the bleeding. I remember him stuffing stocks into my wounds trying to stop the flow of blood that was everywhere. I recall his mother Andrea cradling my head in her arms, talking to me, soothing me, keeping me conscious as we waited for the ambulance. I owe my life to that family and particularly Adam. If it hadn’t been for his quick thinking I would be dead.
The next thing I remember was waking in hospital some 48 hours later, drifting in and out of consciousness. My mother Kate, sister Lizzie and brother Joseph were there standing around my bed and I wondered why they were there as though this was all part of a dream. I couldn’t understand what they were doing there, standing at the end of my bed looking at me. I asked if I was going to live. They gave me the answer I wanted to hear and I drifted once more into unconsciousness.
Five days after the shooting I was still in intensive care guarded round the clock by seven armed police officers, all wearing body armour. Ten days later I was moved from hospital to a safe house but I was still under armed guard. For two years I had pleaded with the Northumbria Police and the Home Secretary Jack Straw to give me some protection but they had always refused, saying I was in no danger from the IRA. They even refused to give me any CCTV system to check outside my house for any suspicious strangers.
And yet my former friends in Northern Ireland’s Special Branch knew differently. They knew my life was still under threat even though there was a so-called cease fire, even though peace talks were due to start within days, attended by both Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Irish Taoiseach Bertie Aherne. The Belfast SB knew I was still high on the IRA’s death list. But the Northumbria Police and the Home Secretary chose to ignore their advice.
If they had listened to those senior officers who knew the minds of those hard-line IRA activists, I would never have been shot because I would have had some protection. I was never cavalier about my security. I always knew that sometime, somewhere, they would have another go at me. And I was determined to make sure they didn’t get me.
After the Good Friday Peace Agreement was signed in 1998 I had high hopes that one day I would be able to lead a normal, ordinary life; get a proper job, enjoy my life a little without the constant worry of waiting for the unexpected, the knock at the door, a bullet in the back or a gunman waiting by the garage to kill me. The longer the peace deal was intact the more my hopes rose.
Then Eamonn Collins, a self-confessed IRA killer who turned against the terrorist movement, was murdered by the Provos. At the time of his shooting I made a statement saying, ‘Now I feel like I am waiting for someone to come to my house and shoot me.’
I tackled Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams during a radio talk show earlier this year asking him when Sinn Fein/IRA were going to allow people like me to return in safety to Northern Ireland without fear of reprisals. His answer was evasive. That too made me realise that I had to keep my wits about me.
I heard in May this year that MI5 had warned senior politicians, including several former Northern Ireland Secretaries, to take extra care over security for they feared the Provos were intent on launching a new wave of violence. But no one warned me.
My Ma told me when she saw me lying in the hospital with bullet wounds all over my body, ‘Marty, you can’t go on like this. You’ve got to get away. You know the Provos will never give up trying to kill you, peace or no peace.’
I know she’s right; my ma was always right. Now I must persuade the Home Secretary and the Northumbria Police to listen, take note and give me some protection.
End
Ps; Within minutes of Martin's shooting, while Martin was fighting for his life, Northumbria Police, Mi5 and British Government began a cover-up and a smear campaign against Martin McGartland, Why? Simple, they did so to save face given it was Northumbria Police and Mi5 who exposed Martin to danger after they, CPS and Mi5, took a failed malicious prosecution against him in 1987. During the case Northumbria Police read out Martin McGartland's name, home address in open court. Those details were published in UK wide newspapers. However, Northumbria Police continued to repeat the lie that Martin was safe. Martin McGartland was not safe, Mi5, Northumbria Police and CPS knew that, and he was shot 6 times by the IRA outside his home on 17th June 1999. Since then Northumbria Police have been covering-up the Martin McGartland case, covering-up for the IRA and refusing to admit in public that the IRA was involved in Martin attempted murder.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lots has happened since. You can read the whole story in; Fifty Dead Men Walking (Book) and Dead Man Running (Martin's second book). There has, and continues to be a Northumbria Police, Mi5 and British Government Cover-up, Jack Straw and home office have been involved. You can follow Martin on Facebook, Bebo and on the Martin McGartland Blogs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Thursday morning in June 1999 I unlocked the car door, sat inside the car and started the engine. But before I could close the door I sensed someone was nearby. I looked up, saw this man wearing a green coat with a gun pointing at me. Instinctively, I lifted my right arm to protect myself. A split second later I felt two thuds hit my right side, the shock reverberating through my body.
I knew in that instant that this gunman was a Provo assassin and from the impact the bullets made on my body I guessed he was using a heavy calibre round, probably a 9mm fired from an automatic. But thank God my brain was still working and I knew that I had to stop him shooting me again. I knew he would go for my head; I knew he would have been told exactly where to target and what to do.
The power of the shots had thrown my body across the car seat to the passenger side and the gunman stretched out his arm so that his gun was close to my head. Before he could pull the trigger I somehow managed to grab the barrel of the gun with my left hand and it went off, the bullet ripping through my hand and lodging in my stomach.
I tried to keep hold of the gun. Something inside my head told me that I had to keep hold of that gun if I was to survive. I wanted to turn the gun so that if he pulled the trigger he would shoot himself. But my strength was fading fast. I felt suddenly powerless, almost at his mercy. I tried to hang on to the gun but I couldn’t. With a concerted tug he managed to wrench the gun from my hand. At that instant I believed I was a dead man.
But the will to survive, to live another day, took over and something stirred deep inside me. I wasn’t finished yet. I tried to lunge towards him again, to grab the gun, but I simply didn’t have the strength. He stepped back a pace and fired four more times hitting me twice in the chest, in the stomach and in the top of the leg.
I heard the ‘tap-tap’ of the automatic and two bullets thudded into my chest with real force. The pain surged through my body and the power of those bullets sent me sprawling backwards across the car seats. I thought he had shot me in the heart and I knew that would be curtains. Before I could sit up I heard the sound of two more ‘tap-taps’ and I felt pain in my stomach and in the top of my leg. I could do nothing to protect myself. I couldn’t move. I was now at his mercy. This was the end.
I thought in that split second that I didn’t want to die, sprawled on the front seat of a car, my body punctured by bullets from a Provo gunman. My mind flashed to the number of times I had seen others killed in this way in Northern Ireland over the years, their dead, broken bodies sprawled grotesquely in the cars they were driving. Something told me that I had to survive.
For what seemed like seconds I waited for more bullets but there were none. I looked up and he had gone, disappeared from sight. Convinced that he had carried out his mission, certain that I was dead, the bastard had fled.
I realised that grabbing that gun had so disorientated the Provo gunman that he panicked. I knew the Prove orders – always shoot people in the head because then we know they’re dead men. And dead men can’t talk.
It took me a couple of seconds to collect my thoughts. I guessed he wouldn’t return for he must have thought that with seven rounds inside me from something like a 9mm automatic I hadn’t a hope in hell of surviving. I wasn’t too sure myself at that stage. Now the pain began to take over, wracking my chest, my side, my stomach and my leg. I looked at my thumb hanging by a thread and repeated over and over, ‘fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck’. Somehow, swearing like that helped me get my head together.
I told myself that I was alive and that if I could stay alive until I got to hospital I would be okay. But how the hell could I get to hospital like this? I thought of trying to drive and then told myself I was being stupid. I hoped to hell someone had heard the sound of shots.
As I struggled to get out of the car, to get help, I felt again the thudding impact of the bullets each time they hit my body, knocking me backwards, knocking the stuffing out of me, preventing me from lunging at him and getting the gun. I managed to pull myself out of the car and then I collapsed onto the ground. I knew I had been shot six or seven times, but I was still breathing, though blood was pumping from my chest, my side and my stomach and my thumb looked as though it had been shot away.
My only fear was that I would lie in that garage and bleed to death. I put my arm across my chest to try and stop the blood gushing out but it was everywhere. I wondered if the Prove bastard had hit my heart or a main artery and realised that I had to stay conscious. I tried to feel my heart to see if it was okay and felt it pumping away. But I worried in case all the blood was being pumped out of my body rather than round my arteries.
I kept telling myself that whatever happened I must not fall asleep though I felt like closing my eyes and drifting off into oblivion. I kept talking to myself, saying over and over again, ‘If you fall asleep you will never wake again. If you fall unconscious you will simply die. Now, for fuck’s sake keep awake.’
And then I felt pain. A minute or so must have passed since the Provo bastard ran off, and, until that moment there had been little pain. Now the pain wracked my body, my chest, my side, my stomach, my arm, my hand. Shit, it hurt. I gritted my teeth to try and stop the pain hurting so much but I couldn’t. I kept talking to myself, telling myself that I could handle the pain as long as I lived. I tried telling myself that the pain wasn’t that bad but it was getting to me. I just wanted to curl up and sleep.
I also realised that if I didn’t get to hospital quickly I would die. I tried to shout for help but the words wouldn’t come. Somehow I couldn’t find the strength to shout for help, only moans came from my throat. Alone in that garage, with the blood pouring out of my body and with my chest, side and stomach pumping blood through my clothes and on to the floor, I felt my life was over. The bastard Provos had got their revenge.
Then I heard voices shouting ‘Marty’ and it was the most glorious sound of my entire life. Now there was hope. I managed to open my eyes and through blurred vision I recognised my neighbours, the Connon family, bending over me asking if I was alright.
Jesus, it was good to see them; I could have cried when I realised they had come to the rescue; had come to help me. I knew the whole family. They were good, honest people and I knew in that instant that they would help me and save me. Somewhere in my mind I recalled that their elder son Adam, aged around eighteen, had studied first aid and that his mother Andrea was something to do with a hospital.
I heard them asking me questions and I can’t recall if I replied or not. My memory was going and so was my brain. I think I murmured ‘fucking Provos’.
‘Keep quiet, stay still,’ Adam said. ‘An ambulance is on the way. Just lie still and you’ll be okay.’
Adam took off my T-shirt and someone ran off and returned with cling film which he wrapped around my chest and my side in an effort to stem the bleeding. I remember him stuffing stocks into my wounds trying to stop the flow of blood that was everywhere. I recall his mother Andrea cradling my head in her arms, talking to me, soothing me, keeping me conscious as we waited for the ambulance. I owe my life to that family and particularly Adam. If it hadn’t been for his quick thinking I would be dead.
The next thing I remember was waking in hospital some 48 hours later, drifting in and out of consciousness. My mother Kate, sister Lizzie and brother Joseph were there standing around my bed and I wondered why they were there as though this was all part of a dream. I couldn’t understand what they were doing there, standing at the end of my bed looking at me. I asked if I was going to live. They gave me the answer I wanted to hear and I drifted once more into unconsciousness.
Five days after the shooting I was still in intensive care guarded round the clock by seven armed police officers, all wearing body armour. Ten days later I was moved from hospital to a safe house but I was still under armed guard. For two years I had pleaded with the Northumbria Police and the Home Secretary Jack Straw to give me some protection but they had always refused, saying I was in no danger from the IRA. They even refused to give me any CCTV system to check outside my house for any suspicious strangers.
And yet my former friends in Northern Ireland’s Special Branch knew differently. They knew my life was still under threat even though there was a so-called cease fire, even though peace talks were due to start within days, attended by both Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Irish Taoiseach Bertie Aherne. The Belfast SB knew I was still high on the IRA’s death list. But the Northumbria Police and the Home Secretary chose to ignore their advice.
If they had listened to those senior officers who knew the minds of those hard-line IRA activists, I would never have been shot because I would have had some protection. I was never cavalier about my security. I always knew that sometime, somewhere, they would have another go at me. And I was determined to make sure they didn’t get me.
After the Good Friday Peace Agreement was signed in 1998 I had high hopes that one day I would be able to lead a normal, ordinary life; get a proper job, enjoy my life a little without the constant worry of waiting for the unexpected, the knock at the door, a bullet in the back or a gunman waiting by the garage to kill me. The longer the peace deal was intact the more my hopes rose.
Then Eamonn Collins, a self-confessed IRA killer who turned against the terrorist movement, was murdered by the Provos. At the time of his shooting I made a statement saying, ‘Now I feel like I am waiting for someone to come to my house and shoot me.’
I tackled Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams during a radio talk show earlier this year asking him when Sinn Fein/IRA were going to allow people like me to return in safety to Northern Ireland without fear of reprisals. His answer was evasive. That too made me realise that I had to keep my wits about me.
I heard in May this year that MI5 had warned senior politicians, including several former Northern Ireland Secretaries, to take extra care over security for they feared the Provos were intent on launching a new wave of violence. But no one warned me.
My Ma told me when she saw me lying in the hospital with bullet wounds all over my body, ‘Marty, you can’t go on like this. You’ve got to get away. You know the Provos will never give up trying to kill you, peace or no peace.’
I know she’s right; my ma was always right. Now I must persuade the Home Secretary and the Northumbria Police to listen, take note and give me some protection.
End
Ps; Within minutes of Martin's shooting, while Martin was fighting for his life, Northumbria Police, Mi5 and British Government began a cover-up and a smear campaign against Martin McGartland, Why? Simple, they did so to save face given it was Northumbria Police and Mi5 who exposed Martin to danger after they, CPS and Mi5, took a failed malicious prosecution against him in 1987. During the case Northumbria Police read out Martin McGartland's name, home address in open court. Those details were published in UK wide newspapers. However, Northumbria Police continued to repeat the lie that Martin was safe. Martin McGartland was not safe, Mi5, Northumbria Police and CPS knew that, and he was shot 6 times by the IRA outside his home on 17th June 1999. Since then Northumbria Police have been covering-up the Martin McGartland case, covering-up for the IRA and refusing to admit in public that the IRA was involved in Martin attempted murder.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lots has happened since. You can read the whole story in; Fifty Dead Men Walking (Book) and Dead Man Running (Martin's second book). There has, and continues to be a Northumbria Police, Mi5 and British Government Cover-up, Jack Straw and home office have been involved. You can follow Martin on Facebook, Bebo and on the Martin McGartland Blogs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Is 'Fifty Dead Men Walking' (Film) really based on truth? 'No, its's as near to the truth as earth is to pluto,' says Martin McGartland
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Is 'Fifty Dead Men Walking' (Film) really based on truth? 'No, its's as near to the truth as earth is to pluto,' says Martin McGartland.
=============================================================================================================================
Is 'Fifty Dead Men Walking' really based on truth?
Martin McGartland, whose memoir forms the basis for 'Fifty Dead Men Walking', talks to Time Out about how he believes he's been inaccurately portrayed in the film
Last week saw the release of the film ‘Fifty Dead Men Walking’, a thriller adapted from the book of the same name by Martin McGartland, a working class Belfast boy who became both a respected member of the IRA and an informer for the British secret service. McGartland has been living in hiding for the past two decades, during which time he has been tracked down and shot twice. So it came as something of a surprise when he contacted the Time Out offices to discuss his reactions to the film which, he asserts, crucially misrepresents some episodes from his life story.
‘The best way I can explain it in basic, blunt terms, is it’s as near to the truth as Earth is to Pluto,’ McGartland insists. ‘If a film is loosely based on someone’s life story, how does the audience know what’s true and what’s fiction?’
McGartland cites various specific incidences where the film strays from his version of the truth. ‘I have never drank in my life, I have never smoked in my life and (actor) Jim Sturgess is in pubs getting pissed all the time and smoking cigarettes. All the stuff about me getting shot in Canada, I’ve never been to Canada in my life except for a brief holiday. I never lived there. And I certainly was not present when a suspected informer was interrogated and murdered. That made me so angry.’
But for McGartland, this isn’t just a case of creative licence. ‘Not only is there sympathy for the Republican movement (in the film), but the director, Kari Skogland, has done some kind of deal with the IRA whereby she has allowed them to be consultants and also, this is on record too, they’ve actually been on set when the film was being made, which is unheard of. How can you make a film about the IRA when they’re standing watching over your shoulder?’
Director Skogland angrily refutes McGartland’s claims, though she admits she did consult ex-IRA members when researching the film, and accepts that ex-Republicans were on set during shooting. ‘But so were the army!’ she argues. ‘They were there at the same time. Everyone was getting along, it was really very important, the army was there, the RUC was there, everyone wanted me to get it right, to have a very authentic view. While I would not want to suggest the IRA had any influence on the film because they didn’t, I certainly had to go to people to make sure that if I’m portraying them I’m not portraying them from some Hollywood, ill-conceived, stereotypical perspective.’
She also asserts that she offered McGartland an advisory role on the film and held numerous conversations with him during shooting. ‘I spent hours talking to him, and recognised that he had quite a distinct agenda. I felt because he had such a passionate perspective, his intention would have been to make it a political document, that was not the intention of the movie. This was not an agenda-oriented film. I listened and I was very respectful but at the same time I couldn’t let his voice change the dynamic of the picture that I knew was a truthful story of what it is to be an informer.’
Whatever the respective merits of their conflicting views, the incident highlights the responsibility filmmakers bear when telling real-life stories, particularly when their subjects are alive and eager to speak out. McGartland is concerned that the film will now be the only way people remember his contribution to what he views as a righteous cause.
‘I’ve been kidnapped by the IRA, jumped out a window to save my own life. I’ve been through the mill and back again and I accept all those consequences as a result of what I do… I didn’t want any control over the film, I just wanted them to do it in a fair way.’
Author: Tom Huddleston
http://www.timeout.com/film/features/show-feature/7273/is-fifty-dead-men-walking-really-based-on-truth.html
Is 'Fifty Dead Men Walking' (Film) really based on truth? 'No, its's as near to the truth as earth is to pluto,' says Martin McGartland.
=============================================================================================================================
Is 'Fifty Dead Men Walking' really based on truth?
Martin McGartland, whose memoir forms the basis for 'Fifty Dead Men Walking', talks to Time Out about how he believes he's been inaccurately portrayed in the film
Last week saw the release of the film ‘Fifty Dead Men Walking’, a thriller adapted from the book of the same name by Martin McGartland, a working class Belfast boy who became both a respected member of the IRA and an informer for the British secret service. McGartland has been living in hiding for the past two decades, during which time he has been tracked down and shot twice. So it came as something of a surprise when he contacted the Time Out offices to discuss his reactions to the film which, he asserts, crucially misrepresents some episodes from his life story.
‘The best way I can explain it in basic, blunt terms, is it’s as near to the truth as Earth is to Pluto,’ McGartland insists. ‘If a film is loosely based on someone’s life story, how does the audience know what’s true and what’s fiction?’
McGartland cites various specific incidences where the film strays from his version of the truth. ‘I have never drank in my life, I have never smoked in my life and (actor) Jim Sturgess is in pubs getting pissed all the time and smoking cigarettes. All the stuff about me getting shot in Canada, I’ve never been to Canada in my life except for a brief holiday. I never lived there. And I certainly was not present when a suspected informer was interrogated and murdered. That made me so angry.’
But for McGartland, this isn’t just a case of creative licence. ‘Not only is there sympathy for the Republican movement (in the film), but the director, Kari Skogland, has done some kind of deal with the IRA whereby she has allowed them to be consultants and also, this is on record too, they’ve actually been on set when the film was being made, which is unheard of. How can you make a film about the IRA when they’re standing watching over your shoulder?’
Director Skogland angrily refutes McGartland’s claims, though she admits she did consult ex-IRA members when researching the film, and accepts that ex-Republicans were on set during shooting. ‘But so were the army!’ she argues. ‘They were there at the same time. Everyone was getting along, it was really very important, the army was there, the RUC was there, everyone wanted me to get it right, to have a very authentic view. While I would not want to suggest the IRA had any influence on the film because they didn’t, I certainly had to go to people to make sure that if I’m portraying them I’m not portraying them from some Hollywood, ill-conceived, stereotypical perspective.’
She also asserts that she offered McGartland an advisory role on the film and held numerous conversations with him during shooting. ‘I spent hours talking to him, and recognised that he had quite a distinct agenda. I felt because he had such a passionate perspective, his intention would have been to make it a political document, that was not the intention of the movie. This was not an agenda-oriented film. I listened and I was very respectful but at the same time I couldn’t let his voice change the dynamic of the picture that I knew was a truthful story of what it is to be an informer.’
Whatever the respective merits of their conflicting views, the incident highlights the responsibility filmmakers bear when telling real-life stories, particularly when their subjects are alive and eager to speak out. McGartland is concerned that the film will now be the only way people remember his contribution to what he views as a righteous cause.
‘I’ve been kidnapped by the IRA, jumped out a window to save my own life. I’ve been through the mill and back again and I accept all those consequences as a result of what I do… I didn’t want any control over the film, I just wanted them to do it in a fair way.’
Author: Tom Huddleston
http://www.timeout.com/film/features/show-feature/7273/is-fifty-dead-men-walking-really-based-on-truth.html
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Not Up To The Job; "Would It Help Chris Thomson, Northumbria Police if we dug up Sherlock Holmes." asks Martin McGartland.
===========================================================================================================================
Marty McGartland Says:- "Chris Thomson of Northumbria Police is quick to release information to the press when it suits him. However, he, Northumbria Police are covering-up my 1999 attempted murder and he, Northumbria Police are not telling the truth about my case."
Have A Happy Xmas From Chris Thomson of Northumbria Police, Chris thinks he knows best ... Marty McGartland knows the REAL Chris Thomson.
Chris says;
"If you follow this advice this will help us to reduce crime and make the area an even safer place to live," added Det Chief Supt Chris Thomson.
Marty says; "Chris Thomson will not talk to the press about my attempted murder case. Chris Thomson has been working on my attempted murder case since 1999 and he, Northumbria Police have done very little or nothing. Its been 8 years (to date-2007) since my shooting and Northumbria Police still have never charged anyone. Chris Thomson is NOT up to the job, would it help Chris Thomson, Northumbria Police if we dug up Sherlock Holmes."
===========================================================================================================================
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Marty Says; Listen to Chris he knows best! "But Chris do you think you can help me to catch a group of IRA bombers, Killers?, Marty asks. Get Marty McGartland on Facebook or Bebo.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
News
Keep Your Christmas Presents Safe
Dated: 13 Dec 2007
Shoppers buying gifts this Christmas are being reminded to think about crime prevention by Northumbria Police.
Police are advising people to take sensible precautions to make their gifts less attractive to thieves.
Detective Chief Superintendent Chris Thomson, head of Northumbria Police's Crime Department, said: "We want to encourage people to make their gifts extra special by making them more difficult to steal.
"We know people are very busy at this time of year but taking some simple and effective precautions will make sure your gift is enjoyed all year long."
Police are asking shoppers to think about storing their gifts safely and not to make it easy for someone to steal presents from your home. Always keep them out of sight from passers-by and don't put them on display until late on Christmas Eve. If you have been extra generous this year check your insurance to make sure you're covered for the value of goods in your home.
Christmas crime prevention advice includes:
- Record the serial number of any goods you buy and keep them safe,
including the frame numbers of new bikes and the serial numbers of new
electrical equipment for future reference.
- Remember, empty boxes left outside your home advertise what you have
bought, so dispose of them safely.
- Register mobile phones on a crime prevention website,
www.immobilise.com which immobilises the phone, if reported stolen,
rendering it useless to any thieves.
- Keep a record of your phone's IMEI number by keying in *#06#. This
unique long digit code will then appear on the handset. Keep a separate
note of it.
- Contact police if your new phone is stolen or lost, they will record the
details of the theft. Also call your service provider and they will block your
handset and SIM code, making the phone useless to the thief even if
they change the SIM card.
- If you store large items such as bicycles in your shed make sure they are
secure and that your insurance covers them.
"If you follow this advice this will help us to reduce crime and make the area an even safer place to live," added Det Chief Supt Thomson.
http://www.northumbria.police.uk/news_and_events/news/newsindex/details.asp?id=7256
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Marty Says; Listen to Chris he knows best! "But Chris do you think you can help me to catch a group of IRA bombers, Killers?, Marty asks. Get Marty McGartland on Facebook or Bebo.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Marty McGartland Says:- "Chris Thomson of Northumbria Police is quick to release information to the press when it suits him. However, he, Northumbria Police are covering-up my 1999 attempted murder and he, Northumbria Police are not telling the truth about my case."
Have A Happy Xmas From Chris Thomson of Northumbria Police, Chris thinks he knows best ... Marty McGartland knows the REAL Chris Thomson.
Chris says;
"If you follow this advice this will help us to reduce crime and make the area an even safer place to live," added Det Chief Supt Chris Thomson.
Marty says; "Chris Thomson will not talk to the press about my attempted murder case. Chris Thomson has been working on my attempted murder case since 1999 and he, Northumbria Police have done very little or nothing. Its been 8 years (to date-2007) since my shooting and Northumbria Police still have never charged anyone. Chris Thomson is NOT up to the job, would it help Chris Thomson, Northumbria Police if we dug up Sherlock Holmes."
===========================================================================================================================
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Marty Says; Listen to Chris he knows best! "But Chris do you think you can help me to catch a group of IRA bombers, Killers?, Marty asks. Get Marty McGartland on Facebook or Bebo.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
News
Keep Your Christmas Presents Safe
Dated: 13 Dec 2007
Shoppers buying gifts this Christmas are being reminded to think about crime prevention by Northumbria Police.
Police are advising people to take sensible precautions to make their gifts less attractive to thieves.
Detective Chief Superintendent Chris Thomson, head of Northumbria Police's Crime Department, said: "We want to encourage people to make their gifts extra special by making them more difficult to steal.
"We know people are very busy at this time of year but taking some simple and effective precautions will make sure your gift is enjoyed all year long."
Police are asking shoppers to think about storing their gifts safely and not to make it easy for someone to steal presents from your home. Always keep them out of sight from passers-by and don't put them on display until late on Christmas Eve. If you have been extra generous this year check your insurance to make sure you're covered for the value of goods in your home.
Christmas crime prevention advice includes:
- Record the serial number of any goods you buy and keep them safe,
including the frame numbers of new bikes and the serial numbers of new
electrical equipment for future reference.
- Remember, empty boxes left outside your home advertise what you have
bought, so dispose of them safely.
- Register mobile phones on a crime prevention website,
www.immobilise.com which immobilises the phone, if reported stolen,
rendering it useless to any thieves.
- Keep a record of your phone's IMEI number by keying in *#06#. This
unique long digit code will then appear on the handset. Keep a separate
note of it.
- Contact police if your new phone is stolen or lost, they will record the
details of the theft. Also call your service provider and they will block your
handset and SIM code, making the phone useless to the thief even if
they change the SIM card.
- If you store large items such as bicycles in your shed make sure they are
secure and that your insurance covers them.
"If you follow this advice this will help us to reduce crime and make the area an even safer place to live," added Det Chief Supt Thomson.
http://www.northumbria.police.uk/news_and_events/news/newsindex/details.asp?id=7256
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Marty Says; Listen to Chris he knows best! "But Chris do you think you can help me to catch a group of IRA bombers, Killers?, Marty asks. Get Marty McGartland on Facebook or Bebo.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Friday, May 25, 2001
COPS NAME SUSPECTS IN RUC AGENT SHOOTING; Gun is linked to attempted
COPS NAME SUSPECTS IN RUC AGENT SHOOTING; Gun is linked to attempted
POLICE investigating the IRA murder bid on former RUC agent Martin McGartland have finally named the men they suspect were involved in the shooting.
And detectives have also disclosed for the first time the make and calibre of the gun used in the attempted murder in June 1999.
The Sunday Mirror has obtained a copy of a letter sent last month by a Northumbria Police officer to McGartland which sets out the police investigation to date.
The force has given its "reasons" for the arrest of suspects and convicted terrorists Henry Joseph (Harry) Fitzsimmons and Scott Gary Monaghanin October 1999.
The officer writes: "In relation to the the two arrests mentioned, Henry Fitzsimmons was arrested as a result of the following:
(i)He was arrested and imprisoned as a result of you informing the authorities of his terrorist activities, therefore he had motive; (ii) he shares a good likeness to one of the men seen by the witness as being involved; (iii)reliable intelligence has been received that he was involved in the shooting."
The detective added: "Scott Gary Mongahan was arrested due to the fact:
(i) He shares a good likeness to one of the men seen by a witness as being involved; (ii) he has been the subject of a voice identification in respect of a taped answer phone message which had been evidentially linked to the preparation and planning of your murder. That message has been forensically examined; (iii) reliable intelligence has been received that he was involved."
Glasgow-born Monaghan was subjected to a voice analysis test after police recovered a tape from an answering machine in which a man with a Scottish accent tried to buy a Bedford van from a private seller in the Newcastle area weeks before the shooting.
McGartland told the Sunday Mirror: "I am pleased that Northumbria police have finally confirmed that they have identified these two men.
"I would now expect the full force of the law to be used to bring these two men to trial and ultimately to justice."
The police letter also reveals that one of two guns found two months after the shooting had now been forensically linked to the murder bid.
The gun that fired the shots was a Czech-made CZ 9 mm pistol.
Monaghan, 34, was set free early under the Good Friday Agreement in 1999 after he had been jailed for a total of 1,004 years for a bombing campaign across Northern Ireland.
Fitzsimons was jailed for 15 years in 1990 after he was caught in a house in north Belfast trying to assemble a booby trap car bomb.
Copyright 2001 MGN LTD
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
Link;- http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_20010506/ai_n14527734/pg_2/
POLICE investigating the IRA murder bid on former RUC agent Martin McGartland have finally named the men they suspect were involved in the shooting.
And detectives have also disclosed for the first time the make and calibre of the gun used in the attempted murder in June 1999.
The Sunday Mirror has obtained a copy of a letter sent last month by a Northumbria Police officer to McGartland which sets out the police investigation to date.
The force has given its "reasons" for the arrest of suspects and convicted terrorists Henry Joseph (Harry) Fitzsimmons and Scott Gary Monaghanin October 1999.
The officer writes: "In relation to the the two arrests mentioned, Henry Fitzsimmons was arrested as a result of the following:
(i)He was arrested and imprisoned as a result of you informing the authorities of his terrorist activities, therefore he had motive; (ii) he shares a good likeness to one of the men seen by the witness as being involved; (iii)reliable intelligence has been received that he was involved in the shooting."
The detective added: "Scott Gary Mongahan was arrested due to the fact:
(i) He shares a good likeness to one of the men seen by a witness as being involved; (ii) he has been the subject of a voice identification in respect of a taped answer phone message which had been evidentially linked to the preparation and planning of your murder. That message has been forensically examined; (iii) reliable intelligence has been received that he was involved."
Glasgow-born Monaghan was subjected to a voice analysis test after police recovered a tape from an answering machine in which a man with a Scottish accent tried to buy a Bedford van from a private seller in the Newcastle area weeks before the shooting.
McGartland told the Sunday Mirror: "I am pleased that Northumbria police have finally confirmed that they have identified these two men.
"I would now expect the full force of the law to be used to bring these two men to trial and ultimately to justice."
The police letter also reveals that one of two guns found two months after the shooting had now been forensically linked to the murder bid.
The gun that fired the shots was a Czech-made CZ 9 mm pistol.
Monaghan, 34, was set free early under the Good Friday Agreement in 1999 after he had been jailed for a total of 1,004 years for a bombing campaign across Northern Ireland.
Fitzsimons was jailed for 15 years in 1990 after he was caught in a house in north Belfast trying to assemble a booby trap car bomb.
Copyright 2001 MGN LTD
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
Link;- http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_20010506/ai_n14527734/pg_2/
Wednesday, May 17, 2000
Northumbria Police Dirty Tricks and the Cover-Up of attempted murder
Northumbria Police Turning a Blind Eye to attempted murder of Martin McGartland
Northumbria Police press office, under the orders of their Speical Branch, Mi5 and the Home office (including Jack Straw), claimed the Martin McGartland shooting was as a result of a "drugs-related" shooting. However, Northumbria Police were up to their Dirty Tricks. Northumbria Police also knew at that time that it was an IRA hit but they lied, covered-up. Northumbria Police even prevented the medics from getting to Martin McGartland. Martin was left bleeding with six gun shot wounds for 20 minutes. The IRA traced McGartland to his safehouse after Northumbria Police, Special Branch, CPS and Mi5 take a flawed court case against McGartland in 1997. Northumbria Police had managed to publicise Martin McGartland's real name and even his address, telling the IRA hitmen where he was and where he could be found. The IRA shot McGartland 6 times on the 17th June 1999. Martin McGartland said; "Northumbria Police know who shot me and they know where to find them. However, Northumbria Police, Mi5 and the CPS are involved in a cover-up in my case. They are all protecting IRA murders, bombers. Northumbria Police and its YES officers have never charged anyone with my shooting. DNA etc is also being covered up by Northumbria Police.
==========================================================================================================================
CS: Pol-Two more shot dead in gang war
Jeff Wood
17 May 2000 16:56:55 -0000
From: "Jeff Wood", [EMAIL PROTECTED]
It will often be true that a firearms death is a narcotics-related matter,
and increasingly that hint will relegate it to the back pages of the
newspapers, where only people like CS subscribers, who have an interest in
the level of shootings, will note it.
However it is not always true, even where the press officer of the local
police force claims it is. When Martin McGartland, the former MI5/RUC agent
was shot, I recall that the matter was first reported as a "drugs-related"
shooting.
There were complications to this affair: Northumbria Police had managed to
publicise McGartland's real name and address, telling the hitmen where to
call. The police had also prevented medics from getting to the victim. They
had rear ends to cover, and publicity was unwelcome.
McGartland was too well known for the ploy to work for long, but watch out
for it being used again, if it becomes normal for druggie shootings to get
just a para in the papers.
Yours sincerely
Jeff Wood
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Public PGP Key at: ldap://certserver.pgp.com
-------[Cybershooters contacts]--------
Editor: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Website & subscription info: www.cybershooters.org
Website Link:- http://www.mail-archive.com/cybershooters@mail-it.com/msg00563.html
Northumbria Police press office, under the orders of their Speical Branch, Mi5 and the Home office (including Jack Straw), claimed the Martin McGartland shooting was as a result of a "drugs-related" shooting. However, Northumbria Police were up to their Dirty Tricks. Northumbria Police also knew at that time that it was an IRA hit but they lied, covered-up. Northumbria Police even prevented the medics from getting to Martin McGartland. Martin was left bleeding with six gun shot wounds for 20 minutes. The IRA traced McGartland to his safehouse after Northumbria Police, Special Branch, CPS and Mi5 take a flawed court case against McGartland in 1997. Northumbria Police had managed to publicise Martin McGartland's real name and even his address, telling the IRA hitmen where he was and where he could be found. The IRA shot McGartland 6 times on the 17th June 1999. Martin McGartland said; "Northumbria Police know who shot me and they know where to find them. However, Northumbria Police, Mi5 and the CPS are involved in a cover-up in my case. They are all protecting IRA murders, bombers. Northumbria Police and its YES officers have never charged anyone with my shooting. DNA etc is also being covered up by Northumbria Police.
==========================================================================================================================
CS: Pol-Two more shot dead in gang war
Jeff Wood
17 May 2000 16:56:55 -0000
From: "Jeff Wood", [EMAIL PROTECTED]
It will often be true that a firearms death is a narcotics-related matter,
and increasingly that hint will relegate it to the back pages of the
newspapers, where only people like CS subscribers, who have an interest in
the level of shootings, will note it.
However it is not always true, even where the press officer of the local
police force claims it is. When Martin McGartland, the former MI5/RUC agent
was shot, I recall that the matter was first reported as a "drugs-related"
shooting.
There were complications to this affair: Northumbria Police had managed to
publicise McGartland's real name and address, telling the hitmen where to
call. The police had also prevented medics from getting to the victim. They
had rear ends to cover, and publicity was unwelcome.
McGartland was too well known for the ploy to work for long, but watch out
for it being used again, if it becomes normal for druggie shootings to get
just a para in the papers.
Yours sincerely
Jeff Wood
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Public PGP Key at: ldap://certserver.pgp.com
-------[Cybershooters contacts]--------
Editor: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Website & subscription info: www.cybershooters.org
Website Link:- http://www.mail-archive.com/cybershooters@mail-it.com/msg00563.html
Saturday, May 6, 2000
I shall not be moved, vows McGartland. (ACC NORTHUMBRIA POLICE AND THE COVER-UP OF IRA SHOOTING OF MARTIN MCGARTLAND)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Martin McGartland and the Northumbria POlice Cover-Up
The letter (in following report) from Mr Crimmens claims McGartland has put his own life and those of his armed escorts at risk by slipping away from the safe house on at least one occasion. 'ACC Tony Crimmens, like his Pals in HQ, are liars and have never told the truth since the day of my shooting by the IRA. I wanted to go to do a tv interview, however, Mi5, Northumbria Police did not want it to happen. They did not want me to tell the public the truth, Northumbria Police were trying to keep me away from media, however, I was NOT going to allow that to happen. So I will say it again ACC TONY CRIMMENS former yes man, ACC at Northumbria Police is a LIAR and he was directly involved in the Northumbria Police cover-up and smearing of me on the day of my shooting and thereafter.', said Martin McGartland.
===========================================================================================================================
I shall not be moved, vows McGartland.
The Birmingham Post
February 21, 2000
Former IRA informer Martin McGartland, who survived an assassination attempt eight months ago, yesterday said he would fight police attempts to move him out of a safe house where he has been under 24-hour armed protection.
Northumbria Police want him take up a new identity in another part of the country or accept 28 days' notice to find "alternative accommodation".
Reports have put the cost of providing 24-hour protection for Mr McGartland at more than a pounds 1 million.
The force declined to comment on reports that assistant chief constable Tony Crimmens had written to the ex-RUC agent last week with the ultimatum.
Mr McGartland is credited with saving 50 lives, including those of British servicemen, when he infiltrated the IRA in Belfast between 1988 and 1991.
He believes it was the IRA who last June tried to have him killed outside his home on Tyneside, where he moved after his cover was blown in 1991.
He was shot six times, but Northumbria Police have refused to say whether the shooting was linked to the IRA.
Mr McGartland said the alternatives being offered by police did not guarantee his safety, and he would be seeking a judicial review of the decision.
He said: "The law clearly states that if there has been any threat against any individual, the police have a duty to look after that person to such times as that threat goes.
"I know it was the IRA that tried to shoot me last year, even though Northumbria Police refuse to say that, and my life is still in danger.
"What is being offered to me does not guarantee my safety. The IRA could easily uncover any new identity the Crown authorities give me, and the move to new accommodation does not provide me with even CCTV security."
He said: "People forget that I fought on behalf of the Government and the RUC by getting inside the IRA, even if is was for only two years.
"At the end of the day, I put my life on the line, and now they are saying, `okay that was a long time ago you have nothing to fear'. But I have been shot since."
The letter from Mr Crimmens claims McGartland has put his own life and those of his armed escorts at risk by slipping away from the safe house on at least one occasion.
McGartland said the police were using the incident to force him out.
A Northumbria Police spokeswoman said the force was not commenting on Mr McGartland's security arrangements.
But a force spokesman said: "We consider it unreasonable to provide the current level of accommodation and security on a long-term basis."
Mr Andrew Mackay, Conservative spokesman on Northern Ireland, said: "Clearly, McGartland is at risk, particularly after the attempt on his life last year.
"In those circumstances it is essential that he is properly protected by the authorities, and if this were not to be the case those responsible for such a decision would be in dereliction of their duties."
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-60516593.html
Martin McGartland and the Northumbria POlice Cover-Up
The letter (in following report) from Mr Crimmens claims McGartland has put his own life and those of his armed escorts at risk by slipping away from the safe house on at least one occasion. 'ACC Tony Crimmens, like his Pals in HQ, are liars and have never told the truth since the day of my shooting by the IRA. I wanted to go to do a tv interview, however, Mi5, Northumbria Police did not want it to happen. They did not want me to tell the public the truth, Northumbria Police were trying to keep me away from media, however, I was NOT going to allow that to happen. So I will say it again ACC TONY CRIMMENS former yes man, ACC at Northumbria Police is a LIAR and he was directly involved in the Northumbria Police cover-up and smearing of me on the day of my shooting and thereafter.', said Martin McGartland.
===========================================================================================================================
I shall not be moved, vows McGartland.
The Birmingham Post
February 21, 2000
Former IRA informer Martin McGartland, who survived an assassination attempt eight months ago, yesterday said he would fight police attempts to move him out of a safe house where he has been under 24-hour armed protection.
Northumbria Police want him take up a new identity in another part of the country or accept 28 days' notice to find "alternative accommodation".
Reports have put the cost of providing 24-hour protection for Mr McGartland at more than a pounds 1 million.
The force declined to comment on reports that assistant chief constable Tony Crimmens had written to the ex-RUC agent last week with the ultimatum.
Mr McGartland is credited with saving 50 lives, including those of British servicemen, when he infiltrated the IRA in Belfast between 1988 and 1991.
He believes it was the IRA who last June tried to have him killed outside his home on Tyneside, where he moved after his cover was blown in 1991.
He was shot six times, but Northumbria Police have refused to say whether the shooting was linked to the IRA.
Mr McGartland said the alternatives being offered by police did not guarantee his safety, and he would be seeking a judicial review of the decision.
He said: "The law clearly states that if there has been any threat against any individual, the police have a duty to look after that person to such times as that threat goes.
"I know it was the IRA that tried to shoot me last year, even though Northumbria Police refuse to say that, and my life is still in danger.
"What is being offered to me does not guarantee my safety. The IRA could easily uncover any new identity the Crown authorities give me, and the move to new accommodation does not provide me with even CCTV security."
He said: "People forget that I fought on behalf of the Government and the RUC by getting inside the IRA, even if is was for only two years.
"At the end of the day, I put my life on the line, and now they are saying, `okay that was a long time ago you have nothing to fear'. But I have been shot since."
The letter from Mr Crimmens claims McGartland has put his own life and those of his armed escorts at risk by slipping away from the safe house on at least one occasion.
McGartland said the police were using the incident to force him out.
A Northumbria Police spokeswoman said the force was not commenting on Mr McGartland's security arrangements.
But a force spokesman said: "We consider it unreasonable to provide the current level of accommodation and security on a long-term basis."
Mr Andrew Mackay, Conservative spokesman on Northern Ireland, said: "Clearly, McGartland is at risk, particularly after the attempt on his life last year.
"In those circumstances it is essential that he is properly protected by the authorities, and if this were not to be the case those responsible for such a decision would be in dereliction of their duties."
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-60516593.html
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