41. I believe that all my interviews with the investigating officers named above were tape recorded. Those tape recordings if they are still available will show that I gave my interviewees much information about the terrorist activity in which I had been involved. Initially I denied my involvement but after a time, for some reason, unknown to me at that time, my interviewers had lost complete interest in all these other incidents some of which I have described in this statement. I then suggested to them that we should indeed explore everything in which I and others had been involved or knew about. For example, I said that we should begin by discussing the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. They replied that I should tell them all about it. I then asked whether they did not know all about them already and they made it clear that they had no interest in pursuing the matter further. I asked them whether or not McCaughey had told them about the role played in the bombings by Army Intelligence officer and UDR Captain John Irwin but, again, they made it clear they did not wish to discuss the matter. I am confident that the RUC tape-recordings of my interview will corroborate this. 

42. During one of my interviews, conducted by RUC officers Meek and Harris I was asked if I knew an RUC Special Branch man called McCormick. When I replied that I did and discussed the person I was referring to they told me they were talking about a different individual. When I said I did not know any other McCormick in RUC Special Branch they then asked me what I knew about the murder of RUC Sergeant Joseph Campbell in Cushendall. I told them I knew nothing whatsoever about it. They informed me that McCaughey had told them he thought differently and they said they believed the Campbell murder to have been what they called a 'carbon copy' of the Strathearn murder even though the Campbell murder had, in fact, taken place first. Again they continued to tell me that McCaughey had told them everything, that Jackson and Kerr had been involved in the Campbell murder and that McCaughey was alleging I knew something about it. After a short time this line of questioning ceased and the Campbell murder was not raised with me again during my time in the Castlereagh Holding Centre. 

43. What I had told my RUC interviewers in Castlereagh Holding Centre about my alleged involvement in the Campbell murder was true - namely that I was not involved in any way. I thought that I knew absolutely nothing about it. However, after I was charged with the Strathearn murder something fell into place in my mind. I remembered my meeting with     Robin Jackson at his home in Lurgan when, in the company of my RUC colleague Gary Armstrong Jackson had told us that he had been asked by an unidentified RUC Special Branch officer to kill another unidentified RUC officer. I also remembered Jackson telling us that the RUC Special officer's request had been delivered to him by McCaughey. As I have explained in paragraph 24 above I had not linked Jackson's request to the subsequent Campbell murder but after I had been charged with the Strathearn murder and after I had been questioned about my possible involvement in the Campbell murder I realised that this must have been the RUC officer whom Jackson had been proposing that I help him kill. I would subsequently learn, starting while I was on remand and after my conviction a good deal more about how RUC Sergeant Joseph Campbell came to be murdered by Robin Jackson. 

44. I was in Crumlin Road Prison just after my conviction for the murder of William Strathearn when I received a visit from Bill Mooney, head of the RUC CID who talked to me in the Prison governor's office. By this time I was aware that RUC Special Branch Sergeant Charlie McCormick had been arrested and charged with the Campbell murder; he was on     remand in Crumlin Road Prison awaiting trial but, as I did not know him, I had not talked to him. Mooney began by reassuring me that my life was not in any danger but he told me that McCaughey's life was at risk because of what he knew and what he had revealed to the police. Mooney also told me that McCaughey was very lucky not to have been charged with the murder of Sergeant Campbell. Although I did not know, and still don't know, the full details of McCaughey's involvement in that murder I believed that Mooney certainly did; however, I had worked it out by then that Campbell had not been the man Jackson had been referring to when in February 1977 he had asked me to help him kill a policeman. I also realised at the time of Mooney's visit that Charlie McCormick was the RUC Special Branch officer my RUC interrogators had been referring to when they had asked me if I knew an RUC Special Branch man called McCormick. 

45. After my meeting with Mooney I met McCaughey in the prison dining hall and he told me that Mooney had met him in the Governor's office immediately after his meeting with me. He repeated to me what Mooney had told me about him, namely that he should have been charged with the Campbell murder. And McCaughey confided in me that the Campbell     murder had been carried out in exactly the same way as that of William Strathearn. He even told me that the same chicken lorry had been used by the same people. I understood him to mean Jackson and Kerr. 

46. I believed McCaughey at this time because I realised it was not a coincidence that RUC Sergeant Campbell had been murdered a short time after my conversation with Jackson when I had visited him with Armstrong. 

47.Jackson was arrested on charges unrelated to either the Strathearn or Campbell murders a short time after my own arrest and he was imprisoned in Crumlin Road on remand at the same time as RUC Special Branch Sergeant Charlie McCormick was there. All three of us went to the prison chapel regularly and we took advantage of the opportunity to communicate with each other. During these services in the chapel McCormick was separated from us and placed in the balcony of the prison chapel. On a number of occasions I saw Jackson making signs to McCormick in full view of the prisoners and the prison officers that he should keep his mouth shut. Jackson clasped his own lips with his fingers and then, to make sure McCormick had got the message, drew his index finger across his own throat, implying to McCormick that if he talked Jackson would cut his throat. I took this to mean that McCormick knew something about Jackson which Jackson wished to remain secret. On one of these occasions Jackson was sitting beside me in the chapel as he made these signs to McCormick. When I asked Jackson if he knew McCormick he replied that he had met him. 

48.McCaughey, McCormick and one of McCormick's co-defendants Anthony O'Doherty all laimed to have become 'born again Christians' while they were on remand in the prison. This brought them into close and regular contact with the prison chaplains, with McCormick and O'Doherty confiding in both Presbyterian minister Rev. Howard Cromie and Methodist minister Rev. Robert Russell. McCaughey however identified with Rev. Ian Paisley's church and therefore he confided somewhat less in these two ministers. I was, therefore, approached on numerous occasions by Rev. Russell and on several occasions by Rev. Cromie who asked me to try and persuade McCaughey to tell them the truth about the Campbell murder. They informed me that they had spoken at length with McCormick and that as a result they believed him to be innocent. They also believed that McCaughey had information which would enable McCormick to clear his name on this murder. They pointed out that if McCaughey was genuinely serious about being a reformed Christian he should not allow an innocent man to be put on trial and possibly convicted for a murder which they believed he had not done. They then asked me if i knew anything more about the murder which would help McCormick to clear his name. Rev. Russell in particular was puzzled that Jackson appeared to enjoy immunity from prosecution and further he was curious about McCormick's claim that Jackson was an RUC Special Branch agent. He wanted to know if this could be true. 

49. Although I was aware of Jackson's past, as described in this statement, I told Rev. Russell and Rev. Cromie that I did not wish to become entangled in disputes between these men and I explained that, in any case, my relations with McCaughey were not good. However, I became aware that Rev. Cromie had learned something from O'Doherty which    he had then repeated to Mccormick and I further learnt that McCormick was threatening to subpoena Rev. Cromie to testify about this during his forthcoming trial for the Campbell murder. I knew that as a result of these developments the prison authorities were growing anxious and that they quickly changed the rules relating to meetings between prisoners and chaplains. This meant that O'Doherty was not allowed to meet Rev. Cromie again and Rev. Cromie was in fact not required to testify during McCormick's trial. Nevertheless I inferred from all this that O'Doherty possessed information about the Campbell murder which McCormick felt would be of assistance to him. But I do not know what that information is.

50. I have stated everything I know about the respective roles of Jackson, McCaughey, Kerr, O'Doherty and McCormick in relation to the Campbell murder. I have repeatedly discussed the Campbell murder and all other matters raised in this statement with Crumlin Road Prison governors Rodgers and Craig and with the Number One governor in Maghaberry
prison prior to my release. This governor, whose name I cannot recall, expressed his disgust at the way the Campbell murder had been handled and he informed me that this murder led to the suicide of RUC Special Branch Officer Jimmy Blair from Ballymena RUC Station. As a result of all that I have heard of this killing I believe that only an independent inquiry will succeed in establishing the full truth about the murder of RUC Sergeant Joseph Campbell. 

51. While I deeply regret the murder of William Strathearn and my part in it, as I regret all the other lives lost through violence during the troubles, I nevertheless feel I have suffered an injustice. For I was not acting alone in the activities described in this statement and my superiors in the RUC were well aware of what my RUC colleagues and I were doing. Indeed, as I have explained, they encouraged us in our activities. I have felt, since my release from prison in 1992 that my own life was in danger because of what I could reveal about the RUC. In fact, I learned that my personal details had been leaked to Republican terrorists and that, on two occasions, they came looking for me. That is why I decided to leave Northern Ireland and have, for the past five years been living in Nigeria. 

52. I have spoken to three journalists at length about my experiences between 1970 and my release from prison in 1992. I had several lengthy conversations with Liam Clarke of the Sunday times and smuggled letters to him from prison so that he would obtain a better understanding of collusion between the RUC and Loyalist paramilitaries. He visited me in prison on a number of occasions and I again contacted him on my release and we discussed these issues again. I also spoke to Joe Tiernan when he was working for Yorkshire Television and I had further contacts with him when he was working with Sean McPhilemy for Channel 4. I have had lengthy conversations with Sean McPhilemy and explained to him the pattern of collusion in Northern Ireland in the period before he became involved in 1991. I gave all three of these journalists essentially the same information. 

53. On 6th December 1998 I travelled to northern Ireland from London and was met by my friend Eric McConnell who took me to his home in Larne, Co.Antrim. On Tuesday 8th December 1998 I phoned Arthur Miskelly, an RUC officer in Tandragee, Co. Armagh and tried to arrange a meeting with him. I have known Arthur for many years since I served with
him in the Armagh RUC Special Patrol Group in the early 1970s. He told me on the phone that he had arranged to meet the following day Richard Monteith, a solicitor whom I knew. I suggested to Arthur that I should meet both of them and he agreed. Richard Monteith phoned me later in the day and arranged to meet us at a car park near the pub which is opposite the railway station in Lisburn, Co. Antrim. The following day I drove in Eric McConnell's Vauxhall car to Lisburn and, when I arrived, Arthur was already in the car park. We waited and talked a few minutes until Richard Monteith arrived. We then crossed the road from the car park and went for lunch in a pub opposite the railway station car park. I do not recall the name of the pub. The time was approximately 2 o'clock in the afternoon. 

54.We ordered a meal and we all had chicken, chips and vegetables. During the meal we had a conversation during which we mainly discussed the political situation in Northern Ireland. I told both men I was visiting home because I had experienced some difficulties with the immigration authorities in Nigeria and, in general, I talked about why this had come about. I explained that I thought it had happened either as a result of information supplied by the security forces or by journalists who had previously been in touch with me or were attempting to get in touch with me about a libel action in London relating to the RUC and Loyalists in northern Ireland. I told the two men that Sean McPhilemy and Joe Tiernan had been in touch with me a number of times on the phone about this subject and I also told them that I had known Liam Clarke of the Sunday times for many years. Richard Monteith told me he was not surprised that I had spoken to them and he said he would have expected such people to be in touch with me. He did not say why but because of my past experience in Northern Ireland it was obvious to me what he was referring to. 

55. We went on then to discuss Sean McPhilemy's book 'The Committee' but Arthuir Miskelly did not say much because he had not read it. Richard Monteith told me that the book was basically accurate but he thought there were a number of small mistakes, such as in the case of the Prentice brothers. He expressed his opinion, though he was not completely sure, that they would be involved in the supply of money to Loyalists rather than organising terrorism or attending meetings at which such things were organised. He said one of the problems which the Prentices might also have would be accounting for money which was used as protection against Loyalist paramilitaries. He also said that ought not to be a
problem because the British Government had once compensated businessmen who had given money for protection. 

56. We discussed a man who resides in Tandragee called Samuel Abraham. Richard Monteith said he was aware that Abraham had a conviction for a sexual offence against a young boy and then referred to another man called Barrie Bradbury stating that he was also a pervert and had once sexually assaulted his step daughter. I asked Robert Monteith if the Prentice brothers would be involved in this type of behaviour and he told me he would not be surprised if this was the case.I got the impression Robert Monteith did not like the Prentices. 

57. He told me that the book had got it wrong about Wilson from Ulster Carpets and he told me that Wilson was a Quaker and he could not see him involved in such a thing. I have since learned from Sean McPhilemy that his book does not contain any reference to anyone called Wilson or to anyone from Ulster Carpets.

58. Richard Monteith also told me that Abernethy, when approached by a journalist called Ben Hamilton had been under the impression that a programme was to be prepared to promote the cause of the Ulster Loyalists, He said that Abernethy had overreacted or acted on the spur of the moment by driving this journalist to a meeting with point with Graham Long from Ulster Resistance. Abernethy was later recognised by the same journalist at the house of Reverend Hugh Ross and, as a result, he said that Abernethy was a worried man and that the situation was now extremely embarrassing for him as he worked in quite a high position in the Ulster Bank. Richard Monteith said that, unlike Abernethy, he was not personally concerned as nobody knew anything about him. He said that the case of R.J. Kerr regarding the shooting of Paschal Mulholland was somewhat of a mistake for him but nobody could do anything about it as he had talked to the McCrainor brothers and they would not reveal anything that would do him any harm. He told me the advice of the late Robin Jackson that he should never reveal secret information to any person. 

59. We then went on to discuss the sweetshop killing in Craigavon, Co. Armagh. He said again that the book had made a mistake regarding this shooting as Jackson was not present at the actual killings. He told me that he (Richard Monteith) was present with Robin Jackson in Jackson's house at the time of the shootings to provide an alibi. I took this to mean that Robin Jackson knew exactly what was going to happen and that Robert Monteith knew that  something was going to happen on that night. He mentioned the names of people involved but used nicknames except for the name Fulton. It was obvious he knew all about it. 

60. He told me that Barrie Bradbury was a pervert and described him as a useless man who was giving information to a journalist called Martin O'Hagan. He complained that the Fultons could do nothing right and even messed up when they went to try to murder Barrie Bradbury. 

61. He told me that Martin O'Hagan lived close by and could be dealt with any time. He then asked me if, from my conversation with Sean McPhilemy I thought he would be easily scared. I told him that I had not talked enough to Sean McPhilemy to be able to answer that question but I thought as a journalist he would be obviously difficult to put off what he was working on. I understood this to mean that he and others had talked or considered putting pressure on Sean McPhilemy to make him drop the story. We talked for about 1 1/2 hours and, after Richard paid the bill, we went back to the car park and then went our own way. 

62. The contents of this statement and of the attached list of murders attributed to Robin Jackson, which I have provided voluntarily, are true to the best of my knowledge and belief. I am prepared to testify about the matters referred to in these statements in the two libel cases in which Sean McPhilemy is involved, one in the U.K. the other in the USA. I hereby authorise Sean McPhilemy to use these statements as he thinks fit. 

John Oliver Weir  Signed 3rd February 1999