Guilty Plea by Ulster Loyalist May Shed Light on Police Collusion
Mr. Haggarty is the latest of many paramilitary figures from both sides of Northern Ireland’s sectarian divide to become a "supergrass," a slang term for an insider who turns informant, derived from the expression "snake in the grass." Niall Murphy, a lawyer representing the families of some of Mr. Haggarty’s victims, said it was traumatic for the families to sit in court on Friday
and hear Mr. Haggarty plead guilty to the murders, knowing his sentence could be lenient.
But the court is expected to reduce Mr. Haggarty’s prison time significantly if he provides testimony against other members of his group
and about any collusion between the group and officers of the counterterrorist Special Branch of the province’s former police force, the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
But the plea deal will be beneficial, Mr. Murphy said, if it reveals the extent to which Mr. Haggarty, who was a paid informant for the Royal Ulster Constabulary throughout the period, was committing murders
and other crimes with the knowledge, consent, protection or encouragement of the authorities.
Gary Haggarty, 45, a former leader of the Ulster Volunteer Force in the Mount Vernon area of Belfast, appeared
in Laganside Court on Friday to enter his plea, which covered crimes committed from 1991 to 2007.
By ED O’LOUGHLINJUNE 23, 2017
DUBLIN — A Protestant paramilitary leader and police informant from Belfast pleaded
guilty to more than 200 terrorist crimes on Friday, including five murders.
The plea was the first step in a legal process that could expose past collusion between the police
and loyalist terrorists in Northern Ireland during the years of sectarian conflict known as the Troubles.
