STABBED IN THE BACK
STABBED IN THE BACK'
By STEPHEN GORDON and CHRIS ANDERSON
Army spy claims he was 'sacrificed' to save IRA mole
A FORMER Army spy has claimed he was 'sacrificed' by the security services to save their key IRA agent, after he helped foil a bid to kill a top RUC officer. Ex-undercover soldier 'Kevin Fulton' claims military intelligence tried to use him to take the heat off their most prized IRA agent - codenamed "Stakeknife". Newry man Fulton says he was "burned up" to save Stakeknife after police smashed the IRA's 1994 attempt to kill Derek Martindale - then head of CID - at his east Belfast home in February 1994.
David Adams - a cousin of Sinn Fein leader Gerry - was one of an IRA team arrested as undercover cops swooped on a Provo team near the Belmont home of DCS Martindale, who had also headed the RUC's anti-racketeering squad.
Five republicans received jail terms ranging from 10 to 25 years for their involvement.
Fulton was a key security force agent within the IRA at the time, having been recruited by military intelligence soon after he joined the British Army.
Agent Fulton - whose controversial claims led to the Omagh bomb inquiry row last year - supplied a mobile phone and a getaway for the IRA team, although he was unaware of the murder plot.
He had given his handlers details of the phone -which had obtained in the name of a relative - and the car.
The unwitting relative was arrested by police after the Martindale operation, and held at Castlereagh for five days.
Says Fulton: "My handlers got back to me and said "Police are looking for you'. They said 'go in and say nothing, we're watching, you're all right." Two days later, he was arrested and taken to Castlereagh.
"The detectives at Castlereagh said 'Who the f*** are you working for? "Get them and we'll get them to pull you out of here now. Everything is pointing at you. You are the link that has got everybody caught'."
Fulton says now: "Basically, I had been set up to take the fall for a person I believe to be Stakeknife."
He makes the claim in a controversial new video - Agents: No More Lies - winch has made by disgruntled ex-security force agents and which they intend to release soon.
"Too many things were going wrong at (the IRA's) GHQ staff - Gibraltar, bombing campaigns in England where everyone was caught...
"They needed a fall guy I was meant to be that fall guy.
"As an out of town guy working for the townies, I was the perfect patsy."
He says that after being released from Castlereagh he was 'debriefed' by the IRA twice before going back to his handlers.
"My handlers said 'go back, you'll be OK, you'll be OK'. I said 'no, I won't, things have gone badly wrong'."
Fulton adds: "The third time I was asked to meet with the IRA I said to my handlers.
'I need pulled out'. They said 'no, we'll watch you, we'll watch you'. I said 'f**** that'. I went away myself.
"I was meant to fall to protect someone else. There was a witch-hunt."
Fulton believes the agent they were protecting was Stakeknife, the security service's key mole within the IRA, who is reportedly still active in the republican movement. It has been claimed that intelligence services previously sacrificed innocent Belfast pensioner Francisco Notorantonio as a loyalist murder victim, to protect an attempt on the life of the same prized agent in 1987.
By STEPHEN GORDON and CHRIS ANDERSON
Army spy claims he was 'sacrificed' to save IRA mole
A FORMER Army spy has claimed he was 'sacrificed' by the security services to save their key IRA agent, after he helped foil a bid to kill a top RUC officer. Ex-undercover soldier 'Kevin Fulton' claims military intelligence tried to use him to take the heat off their most prized IRA agent - codenamed "Stakeknife". Newry man Fulton says he was "burned up" to save Stakeknife after police smashed the IRA's 1994 attempt to kill Derek Martindale - then head of CID - at his east Belfast home in February 1994.
David Adams - a cousin of Sinn Fein leader Gerry - was one of an IRA team arrested as undercover cops swooped on a Provo team near the Belmont home of DCS Martindale, who had also headed the RUC's anti-racketeering squad.
Five republicans received jail terms ranging from 10 to 25 years for their involvement.
Fulton was a key security force agent within the IRA at the time, having been recruited by military intelligence soon after he joined the British Army.
Agent Fulton - whose controversial claims led to the Omagh bomb inquiry row last year - supplied a mobile phone and a getaway for the IRA team, although he was unaware of the murder plot.
He had given his handlers details of the phone -which had obtained in the name of a relative - and the car.
The unwitting relative was arrested by police after the Martindale operation, and held at Castlereagh for five days.
Says Fulton: "My handlers got back to me and said "Police are looking for you'. They said 'go in and say nothing, we're watching, you're all right." Two days later, he was arrested and taken to Castlereagh.
"The detectives at Castlereagh said 'Who the f*** are you working for? "Get them and we'll get them to pull you out of here now. Everything is pointing at you. You are the link that has got everybody caught'."
Fulton says now: "Basically, I had been set up to take the fall for a person I believe to be Stakeknife."
He makes the claim in a controversial new video - Agents: No More Lies - winch has made by disgruntled ex-security force agents and which they intend to release soon.
"Too many things were going wrong at (the IRA's) GHQ staff - Gibraltar, bombing campaigns in England where everyone was caught...
"They needed a fall guy I was meant to be that fall guy.
"As an out of town guy working for the townies, I was the perfect patsy."
He says that after being released from Castlereagh he was 'debriefed' by the IRA twice before going back to his handlers.
"My handlers said 'go back, you'll be OK, you'll be OK'. I said 'no, I won't, things have gone badly wrong'."
Fulton adds: "The third time I was asked to meet with the IRA I said to my handlers.
'I need pulled out'. They said 'no, we'll watch you, we'll watch you'. I said 'f**** that'. I went away myself.
"I was meant to fall to protect someone else. There was a witch-hunt."
Fulton believes the agent they were protecting was Stakeknife, the security service's key mole within the IRA, who is reportedly still active in the republican movement. It has been claimed that intelligence services previously sacrificed innocent Belfast pensioner Francisco Notorantonio as a loyalist murder victim, to protect an attempt on the life of the same prized agent in 1987.
Further Information
Publisher: SUNDAY LIFE
Ref: SL/136
Published Date: 01-Sep-02
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