Ardoyne man says police set him up

national | miscellaneous | news report Thursday August 01, 2002 08:41 by McMean

An Ardoyne man and his partner who received a sinister death threat from the UDA say they were set up by the RUC/PSNI.

The man, who does not wish to be named, said that a parcel
arrived at his partner's Ardoyne home last Thursday morning, 25
July. It was addressed to both the man and his partner and
contained a shotgun cartridge and a letter purporting to come
from the UDA's C Company, which is based in the Lower Shankill.

The man says he is not registered as living at the house to which
the parcel was sent and he believes the RUC/PSNI played some part
in setting him up.

"The RUC/PSNI were at the house looking for me a number of weeks
ago," he said. "It is not my house and there is nothing to
connect me with it. I believe that the only way the loyalists
could have got this information is through the RUC/PSNI."

Sinn Fein councillor for the area, Margaret McClenaghan, said
that "in a period that has seen a concerted effort by loyalists
to kill members of the nationalist community, culminating in the
death of Gerard Lawlor, the UDA are intent on continuing their
murder campaign; this threat is a clear indication of their
intentions".


PROTEST

Meanwhile, in nearby Glengormley, just outside Belfast, up to 50
young people held a protest outside Glengormley RUC/PSNI barracks
on Saturday.

During the protest, the young people blocked the road outside the
barracks and held up traffic on the busy thoroughfare for 15
minutes.

They are critical of the RUC/PSNI in the area and are accusing
them of using heavy handed tactics against nationalist youths.

The RUC/PSNI refuse to allow young nationalists to gather in and
around the centre of the village. At the same time, loyalist
gangs who have a track record of attacking Catholics are allowed
to congregate unhindered.

In one of the most recent examples of RUC/PSNI brutality, a youth
in his late teens was beaten by the RUC/PSNI after a night out.
The incident happened in the early hours of Saturday morning 20
July, just 24 hours before 19-year-old Gerard Lawlor was shot
dead by loyalist gunmen as he left a pub in Glengormley.

The youth and some friends were walking into Glengormley village
to get a takeaway meal when the RUC/PSNI stopped them. Despite
the fact that the youths had not been involved in any trouble the
RUC/PSNI refused to let them go about their business and set
about one of the youths, leaving him badly bruised.

Sinn Fein councillor for the area Breige Meehan said: "Young
people from this area are under constant threat from loyalist
gangs yet when the RUC/PSNI intervene it is always to confront
the nationalists. Sinn Fein is compiling a dossier of incidents
which we intend forwarding to the Dublin government."


And a Belfast Catholic mother of two has lambasted the RUC/PSNI
for not dealing with a loyalist mob that attacked her house and
car. The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of
reprisals, described how a commotion outside her Westland Gardens
home started in the early hours of Saturday 20 July when
loyalists started shouting outside her door.

Although the woman called the RUC/PSNI, they failed to respond to
her plea for help. Around an hour later, the house was attacked
with bottles. "It was one loyalist on his own; my husband and a
neighbour gave the RUC/PSNI a full description of him but they
refused to go into Westland and arrest him," she said.