14 I NEWS
uk
GIG: Organisers of the concert want
to raise cash for the Northern Ireland
Chest Heart and Stroke charity
Rock concert
tribute for tragic
pool instructor
By John Toner
THE life of a beloved former
swimming instructor will be cel-
ebrated at one-day rock music
festival next month.
Gary ‘Bapper’ Morris often
talked and dreamed of putting
on a show at the Hill of The
O’Neill in Dungannon.
Now close friend David White
is staging the event, called
Bapper’s Gig: NI Rock N’ Roll
Festival, later this summer,
having been given the go-ahead
by his pal’s widow, Olivia.
Gary died after suffering
a stroke in January, so David
is running the show to raise
money and awareness for the
Northern Ireland Chest, Heart
and Stroke charity.
The concert will feature a
headline performance from
Gary’s favourite local band,
Blackwater Conspiracy.
Also on the bill are The Pat
McManus Band, A Little Bitter,
Rusty Jacks, Smoking Gun, Bad
Boy Boogie, an AC/DC tribute
act and many more, in addi-
tion to plenty of child-friendly
activities.
There will also be hot food at
the concert and an after-party at
Hagan’s Bar.
“Bapper loved nothing more
than providing swimming les-
sons to all the children he met
at Dungannon Leisure Centre
for 15 years,” organisers said.
Bapper’s eldest daughter,
Zara, added: “My family and
I are ecstatic about the gig
because music was a huge part
of my daddy’s life and there is
nothing more fitting to cele-
brate his life, especially for such
a good cause.”
Organisers are hopeful the
wider Mid-Ulster community
will “come together as one” for
what promises to be one of the
biggest ever live music gigs in
Dungannon town centre.
Ciaran Campbell, of SD En-
tertainment, said: “A large-scale
production is being planned to
give the townspeople an experi-
ence they’ll remember forever.”
Tickets for the gig on Satur-
day, August, 4 at the Hill of The
O’Neill are £10 for over-16s and
£5 for under-16s, while entry for
under-eights is free.
Tickets can be purchased
from the Hill of The O’Neill and
Ranfurly House Arts and Visitor
Centre, Stewart’s Music Shop,
Dungannon Leisure centre and
from www.dungannon.info.
÷ For more information on the
concert, visit www.facebook.com/
BappersGig.
NEWS I 15
EXCLUSIVE COPS’ INTEL SUGGESTS
IRA ‘BEHIND
POLICE AGENT
MURDER BID’
By Sarah Henderson
ENGLISH police have finally admit-
ted they suspect the IRA tried to
murder RUC Special Branch agent
Martin McGartland after going on
‘permanent’ ceasefire.
Detectives in Northumbria had for 19
years refused to speculate on a motive for
the attempted killing of ‘Agent Carol’ at
his hideaway in the north of the England.
But now they have admitted the Provos
could have been behind the attack in
Whitley Bay, Newcastle.
The force revealed that shell casings
found at the scene of the crime were
a match for bullets used by the IRA in
punishment shootings in Belfast.
While the news was welcomed by
McGartland, he stressed it had only be
disclosed because of his years-long cam-
paign to get the truth.
The 48-year-old was resettled in Eng-
land in 1991 after his role as a Special
Branch agent inside the IRA in west
Belfast was uncovered.
Eight years later, the dad-of-two was
shot six times as he left his home, suffering
injuries to his stomach, side and leg. He
also almost lost a thumb as he tried to
wrestle the gun from the hitman.
In a letter to Mr McGartland, seen
by Sunday Life, a senior detective said
evidence in the case pointed to a Provo
assassination attempt.
The officer told the former spy: “The
Provisional Irish Republican Army re-
mains an organisation suspected of
involvement and with motive to carry
out this offence.
“Northumbria Police had no intelli-
gence/warning about a Provisional IRA
attempt on your life to my knowledge.”
After the attempt on Mr McGartland’s
life, police launched an investigation.
During the probe, 1,000 witness state-
ments were taken, 270 officer reports were
made, footage from 1,300 CCTV cameras
was reviewed, 1,890 actions were investi-
gated — 16 of which remain outstanding
— and five men, including main suspects
and convicted bombers Harry Fitzsimons
and Gary Scott Monaghan, were arrested,
though none of them were charged.
Spy McGartland welcomes admission that Provos may
www.sundaylife.co.uk
Police also held 16 identity parades
in 1999 while Fitzsimons and Scott
Monaghan were in custody.
The senior detective’s letter continued:
“As you are aware, Gary Scott Monaghan
and Harry Fitzsimons were arrested
during the course of the investigation
into your attempted murder.
“Both were released from custody
without charge and, at present, no fur-
ther action has been taken against either
individual. Both individuals remain of
significant interest to this inquiry.”
However, the officer was unable to say
if Monaghan or Fitzsimons had received
comfort letters indicating they were no
longer wanted by the authorities, instead
suggesting that Mr McGartland take this
question to the Government.
The detective added:“Northumbria
Police retain this evidence (firearm and
ammunition) within secure accommoda-
tion and it is subject to further forensic
consideration”.
McGartland was also informed that
“significant lines of inquiry are being
carried out to identify an offender through
ASSASSINATION BID:
Martin McGartland (also
left) survived the attack
DNA left at the scene of the crime”.
The officer further revealed that detec-
tives believe the hit squad may have had
local help in the assassination bid.
“Two Gateshead-based individuals were
arrested on suspicion of assisting in your
attempted murder,” his letter read.
“They were both later released from
custody and no further action has been
taken against them at this time.”
The messaged confirmed that to date
the “getaway car has never been identified
or recovered” by police.
And the 19-year investigation has still
not been able to identify a voice on an
answerphone message of a man with a
Scots accent inquiring about a newspaper
advertisement for a Bedford Rascal van.
The man also left a mobile number, which
TERRORISTS TRIED TO KILL INFORMER
was used to buy another Rascal van that
featured in the murder bid.
The officer said: “An expert in voice
analysis was used. This did not lead to
any information and remains under
consideration.”
The money used to buy the vehicle was
later seized but yielded no forensic clues
as to the buyer.
There has been small progress in one
area, with the detective indicating police
believed they had identified someone
who left a laughing message on Mr
McGartland’s mobile phone voicemail
after the attack.
The letter from the senior detective
concluded: “I would take great pride in
identifying and prosecuting those respon-
sible for the attack. This is my sole focus.”
have launched post-ceasefire attempt to take his life
AT RISK: A Bedford Rascal van
(above) was used in the attempt
to kill McGartland. Right, Harry
Fitzsimons; Below, the police’s
responses to his questions
On September 28, 1999, two loaded
handguns were discovered by a passer-by
in an area directly below the Redheugh
Bridge in Gateshead.
After the weapons were sent for exam-
ination, Northumbria Police announced
one of them had been used to shoot the
IRA double agent.
Asked by McGartland if there was any
link between the shell casing recovered
from the scene of the attack, or the bullets
found in Gateshead, and shell casings
found at murders or shootings in North-
ern Ireland, Northumbria Police said in
the letter: “Yes, the type of ammunition
used in your attempted murder is of a like,
type and calibre of that used in a number
of IRA punishment shootings in Northern
Ireland in 1999.”
www.sundaylife.co.
Speaking to Sunday Life, McGartland
said: “I am sure that those guns will also
turn out to have a long history too.
“Two old guns... neither (according to
RUC) have been used in any other shoot-
ings, but we now know they were owned
by the IRA.
“I have always maintained that the
British Government and the cops were
protecting the IRA and covering up
attempted murders, such as mine, and
also murders.
“I have literally had to drag this infor-
mation out of the police. The Government
was so desperate to protect the IRA that
they concocted very damaging smears
that my shooting was drug-related and
nothing to do with the IRA.
“That is what they were telling the Press
in secret and at off-the-record briefings
while I was fighting for my life in hospital.
“Had I not have survived, I would have
gone to my grave labelled as a drug dealer,
even though I have never smoked, drank
or taken an illegal drug in my life.
“I am not the only person who this will
have happen to, and I am now calling
on the Police Ombudsman for Northern
Ireland to carry out a full and an inde-
pendent investigation into the police
and into Special Branch’s handling of my
entire case.”
Last year, McGartland was warned
by police that his life was under severe
threat and was advised to beef up security
at his home.
PERVERT: Ivan Carson
Paedo ‘broke
court order a
second time’
By Paul Higgins
A PERVERT who breached a
court order by hanging around
a children’s playpark has had
his sentencing adjourned after
allegedly breaking the order for
a second time.
Notorious creep Ivan Carson,
from the Cregagh area of Bel-
fast, contravened a Sexual Of-
fence Prevention Order (SOPO)
by entering Bangor’s Pickie Fun
Park on July 16 last year.
The 64-year-old former ar-
chitect was due to be sentenced
last week, but a court in Ards
was told he had broken the
order once more.
None of the facts surround-
ing the new allegation were
disclosed at the hearing, but a
prosecutor said the latest claim
“pales into insignificance”.
Applying for sentencing to be
put back until after the summer
break, the prosecutor gave an
undertaking that if there was to
be a prosecution on the new al-
legation, he would ensure it was
processed as fast as possible.
Freeing Carson on contin-
uing bail, Judge Piers Grant
said he would pass sentence on
September 10.
As he left court, the defend-
ant pleaded with the Press not
to take his photograph.
“Will you please stop taking
my photo,” Carson called out.
The pervert hit the news in
2010 when he was jailed and
slapped with a SOPO for having
more than 1,200 images of child
abuse.
A year later, Carson, who was
previously described in court
as a non-practising Methodist,
was caught attending Mass
alongside children at a Catholic
church in Bangor.
Sinatra’s wife
dies at 101
NANCY Sinatra Senior, the first
wife of singer Frank and mother
of his three children, has died
aged 101.
Her daughter Nancy Junior,
famed for her song These Boots
Were Made For Walkin’, posted
the news to Twitter early on
Saturday morning.
She wrote: “My mother
passed away peacefully tonight
at the age of 101. She was a
blessing and the light of my life.
Godspeed, Momma. Thank you
for everything.”
In 1950, Nancy Senior was
granted a legal separation after
11 years of marriage because of
Frank’s “mental cruelty” and a
string of extra marital affairs.