Stevens Inquiries facts for kids

The Stevens Inquiries were three important investigations ordered by the British government. They were led by Sir John Stevens. These inquiries looked into whether there was "collusion" in Northern Ireland. Collusion means secret cooperation between loyalist paramilitaries (armed groups) and the state security forces (police and army).

In 1990, Stevens first said that collusion was "not widespread or organized." But by 2003, he found that the level of collusion was "way beyond" what he first thought. His team used advanced fingerprint techniques to link people to documents. By 2005, they had identified 2,000 people this way.

Stevens 1 Inquiry

Loughlin Maginn Investigation

In September 1989, the police chief, Sir Hugh Annesley, started the first inquiry. This was after Loughlin Maginn, a 28-year-old Catholic man, was shot and killed. The Ulster Defence Association (UDA), a loyalist group, claimed Maginn was an Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) intelligence officer. To try and prove their claim, the UDA shared secret police documents and a video. It was later found that a secret agent, Brian Nelson, helped provide this information.

Challenges and Obstruction

Sir John Stevens later wrote that from the very start, there were efforts to make his investigations look bad. He also found that some people tried to hide information from his team. For example, when his team found Brian Nelson's fingerprints on secret documents, they faced a "wall of silence." Police officers became difficult and tried to stop them from investigating Nelson further.

The inquiry team planned to arrest Nelson in January 1990. However, the plan was leaked to journalists and to Nelson himself. Nelson then escaped to England.

The night before the new arrest date, a fire broke out at the inquiry's office in Carrickfergus. The fire alarms did not go off, and the phone lines were cut. When team members tried to put out the fire, they found there was no water in the fire protection system. Stevens believed this was a deliberate act to stop his investigation.

Stevens 3 Inquiry

William Stobie Arrest

In April 1999, as part of the third inquiry, William Stobie was arrested. He was charged in connection with the death of solicitor Pat Finucane. A journalist later published Stobie's version of events.

Report Findings and Recommendations

The final "Stevens Enquiry 3" report was released on April 17, 2003. The report found that members of the security forces in Northern Ireland had secretly cooperated with the UDA. This collusion happened during the UDA's attacks on Catholic civilians in the 1970s and 1980s. This included the death of solicitor Pat Finucane in 1989. The report named the Force Research Unit of the British Army and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) Special Branch as involved.

Stevens explained the problems he faced during his investigations:

• Information about planned arrests was leaked to loyalist groups and the press. This caused operations to be stopped.
• His office was destroyed by fire, which he believed was a deliberate act and was not properly investigated.

Stevens concluded that the deaths of Patrick Finucane and Brian Adam Lambert could have been prevented. He also believed that the police investigation into Finucane's death should have led to quick arrests.

He stated that there was collusion in both cases. Collusion showed up in many ways, such as:

• Not keeping proper records.
• No one being held responsible for actions.
• Hiding important information and evidence.
• Secret agents being involved in serious crimes.

Stevens found all these types of collusion in his three inquiries. He noted that intelligence was not shared well. Informants and agents were allowed to act without proper control and even take part in crimes. People who were targeted were not warned or protected. Important evidence was not used or saved.

Stevens also looked into an allegation that senior police officers told a government minister that "some solicitors were too sympathetic to the IRA." This minister then repeated this view publicly. Patrick Finucane was killed a few weeks later. Stevens concluded that the minister's comments were not fair and that he was given bad information by the RUC.

The inquiry also found that the RUC did not treat all parts of the community equally when dealing with threats.

Aftermath of the Inquiries

After the Stevens Inquiry and the arrest of Brian Nelson, some loyalists believed it helped them. They said it removed older leaders from the UDA, allowing new people to take over. Following this, loyalist groups began to cause more deaths than the IRA for the first time in many years. This period eventually led to ceasefires and the Good Friday Agreement, which brought more peace to Northern Ireland.