BOOKS
Rarely pure and never simple
Ludovic Kennedy
STALKER: THE SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH by Peter Taylor
Faber, f4.95
The eponymous subject of this book was, until March of this year, Deputy Chief Constable of the Greater Manchester Police. In May 1984 he was appointed to head an inquiry into three 'incidents' in Northern Ireland in 1982, in which officers of the Royal Ulster Constabulary had killed a number of IRA terrorists.
After two years' work and with his report on the verge of conclusion, Stalker was suddenly suspended from all police duties; and it was announced that Colin Sampson, Chief Constable of West York- shire, would not only take over from Stalker the leadership of the inquiry but also investigate allegations being made against Stalker himself in Manchester.
Because of the silence which surrounded these events, I (and I imagine others) formed the view that Stalker had discov- ered things both discreditable and embar- rassing to the RUC, and rather than risk these being exposed, the RUC and the GMP had colluded to have Stalker re- moved.
The story that Peter Taylor has to tell is more complex and more interesting. In the three 'incidents' which Stalker was asked to review, the police had originally claimed that they had killed the IRA men in self-defence. But when interrogated by the CID they admitted that they had lied on the directions of Special Branch in order to protect the source — two 'moles' inside the IRA — who had informed them of the IRA men:s whereabouts; and they had in fact killed them in cold blood.
Four RUC men were then tried for murder and acquitted. It was the view of the RUC and Loyalist opinion generally that they should never have been tried. Since 1969 200 RUC men had been killed by the IRA and more than 4,500 injured. Although their orders forbade a shoot-to- kill policy, they were permitted to open fire if they believed themselves to be in danger. How did you set about arresting IRA gunmen without being in danger? What was so reprehensible about neutralis- ing your enemy before he neutralised you?
But what concerned Stalker was the reliability of the moles, who were paid for their services in thousands. What was to stop an unscrupulous mole from becoming an agent provocateur or even providing false intelligence to collect bounty? He asked to see one of the moles and was told he couldn't. He asked to see transcripts of the clandestine tape which would have shown whether RUC officers, before open- ing fire on two IRA men in a hayshed, had given them a warning. He was told the transcripts were unavailable. So he wrote his report without this information, hoping to obtain it later. Peter Taylor says that his findings, which criticised the isolation of Special Branch, were not well received: for they questioned the sacrosanct, the RUC's paramount need to obtain and protect its sources of intelli- gence.
Six months later, and still without any official reaction to his report, Stalker was informed that the Northern Ireland DPP had at last given him permission to see the hayshed transcripts; and he was about to return to Belfast to obtain them when told he had been suspended.
What was the cause of it? It so hap- pened, says the author, that coincidental with the latter part of Stalker's inquiry, the Manchester police were investigating the affairs of one Kevin Taylor, a self-made millionaire and friend of Stalker since the time when their children went to the same school. They suspected him of fraudulent dealings and of his yacht Diogenes being used for drug-running. They discovered that he was friendly with members of the Quality Street gang, a notorious bunch of Manchester villains. And then, shuffling through Taylor's papers, they found that Stalker had been a guest on the Diogenes; had been at one of Taylor's parties where 13 of the 100 guests had criminal records and at another where there were seven out of 51. Further, it was rumoured that Taylor had not been rumbled before because he had been looked after by someone 'high up'. Who else could the 'high up' be but John Stalker?
Policemen everywhere are notorious for jumping to, and then acting on, conclu- sions (the principal cause of miscarriages of justice) and it was not long before James Anderton, Manchester's bearded Chief Constable, acted. If Taylor was arraigned on charges and it emerged that John Stalker had been engaged in deals with him, Stalker would be discredited both as Deputy Chief Constable and as leader of the Northern Ireland Inquiry. Hence the panic suspension, and the calling in of Colin Sampson.
In the event no criminal charges were brought against Taylor, and as the only allegation of substance proved against Stal- ker was that he 'associated with Kevin Taylor and known criminals in a manner likely to bring discredit on the Greater Manchester Police', he was reinstated as Deputy Chief Constable. But for Stalker the sands were running out. After a few months back on duty, believing that Anderton was deliberately 'freezing' him out, and realising he would now never be made Chief Constable, he resigned.
Stalker still thinks he was the victim of a conspiracy, the author thinks not. My own conclusion is that he was the victim of guilt by association, that he paid the penalty for loyalty to an old friend which was incom- patible with what was expected of a Depu- ty Chief Constable. As Stalker's mother put it: 'The friends that Kevin has aren't the friends that John should have'. This is a revealing book.
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