Informer asked to retract
NZPA Belfast The mother of a former Irish National Liberation Army member-turned-in-former visited him in prison in Belfast yesterday to try to persuade her son to save his wife’s life by retracting evidence he gave against 18 I.N.L.A. members.
Harry Kirkpatrick’s wife, Elizabeth, was kidnapped in May by the 1.N.L.A., which threatened to kill her if her husband did not withdraw evidence by midnight (local time) on Sunday. But on Monday the I.N.L.A. said that it would give Kirkpatrick, aged: 25, a little more time.
Kirkpatrick’s mother, Eileen Hill, said that during the 50-minute meeting her son, who is serving a 999year jail sentence for complicity in five murders and 72 other terrorist attacks, had stared at her without speaking. At the end, he said, “I have an awful lot to think about.”
The police have been trying to crack republican
terrorism and Protestant Loyalist counter-terrorism by recruiting informers who usually are offered freedom and immunity from prosecution, a new identity, and money in return for testifying in court against their former comrades. About 260 suspects, mostly republicans, have been denounced by 23 socalled “super-grasses.” British security forces scored a victory three weeks ago when 34 out of 38 people accused of terrorism or related acts were found guilty by a special court after being denounced by a former Irish Republican Army member, Christopher Black.
Kirkpatrick’s stepfather, Richard Hill, visited him earlier in the day and also asked him to retract his evidence.
Mr Hill and Kirkpatrick’s stepsister, Diana, aged 13, also were kidnapped earlier this month by the 1.N.L.A., but on August 18 the police found them in a house in Ireland.
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Press, 24 August 1983, Page 1
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277Informer asked to retract Press, 24 August 1983, Page 1
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