Links
- Irish Aires Home Page
- IA Houston Links
- IA Links Page
- IA News Links
- Irish Aires Archived
- IA Email Lists
- Irish Aires Blog
- IAUC
Archives
- October 2004
- November 2004
- December 2004
- January 2005
- February 2005
- March 2005
- April 2005
- May 2005
- June 2005
- July 2005
- August 2005
- September 2005
- October 2005
- November 2005
- December 2005
- January 2006
- February 2006
- March 2006
- April 2006
- May 2006
- June 2006
- July 2006
- August 2006
- September 2006
- October 2006
- November 2006
- December 2006
- January 2007
- February 2007
- March 2007
- April 2007
- May 2007
- June 2007
- August 2007
- September 2007
- October 2007
- November 2007
- December 2007
- January 2008
- February 2008
- March 2008
- April 2008
- May 2008
- June 2008
- July 2008
- November 2008
- December 2008
- February 2009
- April 2009
- May 2009
- January 2010
- April 2011
- May 2011
- June 2011
- July 2011
- August 2011
- February 2012
News about the Irish & Irish American culture, music, news, sports. This is hosted by the Irish Aires radio show on KPFT-FM 90.1 in Houston, Texas (a Pacifica community radio station)
June 05, 2006
Saving cash on '£7' tout
http://www.sundaylife.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=693789
(Poster's Note: We are in Ireland; will try to post news when I get a chance. Jay)
Saving cash on '£7' tout
By Sunday Life Reporter04 June 2006
FREED loyalist informer Ken Barrett may be broke - but his release last week will save the Prison Service a whopping £200,000 per year.
Barrett - the only man convicted of murdering Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane - hasn't received a financial package from any government agency.
He was whisked out of Belfast last Tuesday afternoon just hours after being freed from Maghaberry Prison where he was serving a 22-year sentence for his part in the murder of the high profile lawyer.
His departure has saved the Prison Service £200,000 a year in costs because he had to be guarded round the clock by at least four prison officers due to fears he would be attacked by other UDA inmates.
Four specially trained officers also had to accompany Barrett every time he was moved from a segregation unit to a special visits or medical area.
The former UDA enforcer pleaded guilty to all the charges put against him in the Crown Court in September 2004 and never divulged his role in the infamous murder which is still being probed by the Stevens Inquiry team.
Ken Barrett's solicitor Joe Rice has already dismissed reports that the UDA killer has received a substantial 'financial package' as a payoff for keeping quiet about the murder.
"Ken Barrett left Belfast with £7 in his pocket. It's absolute nonsense to suggest that he received any financial package from the British Government, never mind a substantial financial package.
"Nothing could be further from the truth.
"He will be on benefits and his wife is surviving on benefits.
"He is broke."
Last month the Sentence Review Commission upheld Barrett's application to be considered for early release under the terms of the Prisoner Release Scheme which became law after the Belfast Agreement was signed.
The Secretary of State Peter Hain opposed Barrett's release on the grounds that he was likely to resume association with the UDA, a suggestion dismissed by sources in the outlawed organisation.
One senior UDA figure said: "Barrett would have got whacked just like (William) Stobie if he had returned to live in Belfast.
"He was a tout and nobody in the West or North Belfast Brigades would have trusted him.
"So I don't know where the Northern Ireland Office is getting this from."
Barrett served two years and eleven months for his part in the Finucane murder, which loyalist sources claim was simply to drive the gunmen to the solicitor's North Belfast home.
The main gunman is understood to be a senior UDA figure from the West Belfast Brigade who is currently facing serious criminal charges.
----
To receive this news via email, click HERE.
No Message is necessary.
To Get RSS Feed for Irish Aires News click HERE
(Paste http://irishaires.blogspot.com/atom.xml into a News Reader)
To June IndexTo Index of Monthly Archives
