Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 21 March 1979.
Mr Ian Gow
, Eastbourne
12:00,
21 March 1979
The hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Mr. Litterick) has misunderstood the position. Assuming that the Director of Public Prosecutions decided to bring any prosecution against those police officers, they would not be charged with any terrorist offence. Therefore, it would not be the same procedure as is applied to terrorists. The hon. Gentleman misunderstands the legal procedures at present in force in Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State gave an assurance to the House on Friday that all the papers and all the evidence, including the evidence of Dr. Irwin, would be—or has already been—sent to the DPP. It will be up to the DPP to decide whether to prosecute, and, if he does, it will not be under the special procedures which the hon. Gentleman described.
Those who have criticised the RUC this afternoon have given aid and comfort to the Provisional IRA. I remind the House of what was said by Judge Bennett in paragraph 19 of the report. He stated:
We have, in the course of our inquiry, seen abundant evidence of a co-ordinated and extensive campaign to discredit the police.
That has happened in Northern Ireland, and I believe that the House should understand that that is the truth of the matter. The observations which have been made from both sides of the House, criticising the RUC have been most ill merited and ill judged.
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