NI: Brian Nelson
01 March 1992
Brian Nelson, the British Army agent who acted as intelligence officer in the legal loyalist paramilitary group, the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), was sentenced to ten years imprisonment on 3rd of February. With time served on remand and remission, it is estimated that Nelson will be released within five years. Nelson had pleaded guilty to charges of collecting and possessing information likely to be of use to terrorists, to one charge of possession of a sub-machine gun and to five charges of conspiracy to murder.
Nelson was originally charged with two counts of murder and a further 13 charges of collecting information for use by terrorists. Amid widespread accusations of a cover up, the Crown withdrew these charges after Nelson adopted his guilty plea. This had the affect of preventing the full details of Army/loyalist collusion and other covert Military Intelligence operations being revealed in open court.
Nelson joined the UDA in 1972. He was recruited by military intelligence in the mid-70s. In 1983 he was appointed as the UDA's intelligence officer. By 1985, however, he is reported to have become sickened by random sectarian killings and by the apparent pleasure of one UDA operative who would return from a killing in a state of frenzied excitement. He then moved to Germany but maintained links with both Military Intelligence and the UDA. He was invited to London early in 1987 to discuss with MI5 the possibility of going back to the UDA in Belfast. This he did in April 1987 with the offer of a £2,000 deposit for a house and a regular wage of £200 per week. He quickly took over as head of UDA intelligence for Belfast.
Nelson was arrested in January 1990 as part of the Stevens inquiry into loyalist/security forces collusion, specifically the leaking of official documents to assist loyalist paramilitary groups to target nationalists and republicans. When the Stevens' inquiry was announced, Nelson placed more than 1,000 leaked documents with his military intelligence handlers for safekeeping. Military intelligence's FRU - variously described as the Force or Field or Forward Research Unit (run by 14th Intelligence Company which also coordinates SAS operations) - in turn held on to these for four months. Not until Nelson admitted the existence of the documents to the Stevens' team did the FRU come under pressure to return the papers.
Colonel 'J'
The Nelson affair has once again underlined the friction between the military and RUC in the intelligence and covert operations field. Although most informers are run by the RUC's Special Branch, the British Army still retains its own agents and has even sought to poach spies from the RUC. From Nelson's trial it is unclear how much information he passed on to FRU and to what extent FRU kept the RUC informed of planned UDA bombings and assassinations. In particular, question marks remain over just how military intelligence used its relationship with the UDA. According to an unnamed colonel 'J', Nelson's loyalty lay with the Army, indeed he had once been a soldier with the Black Watch regiment twenty years ago. He claimed that his role was a courageous life-saving one countering terrorism. In the three years prior to his arrest, Nelson had given the colonel 730 reports concerning threats to 217 individuals, including plans to place a limpet mine under Gerry Adams' car. Nelson's defence lawyer went on to describe him as a victim of an intelligence system which turned a blind eye to criminal activity when it suited, but washed its hands of a brave hero when things went wrong and the extent of collusion began to be exposed. The detention and trial of Nelson (and other leading UDA figures), it is now argued within intelligence circles has meant that the Army can no longer keep the lid on UDA activity.
There are indications, however, of the Army playing a more pro-active role in UDA operations and strategy, including preventing some actions while allowing