Nationalist escapes death
by Laura Friel
In the early hours of last Sunday November , a young nationalist
in his early thirties ran in terror into Oldpark RUC barracks to
report a loyalist murder bid. He was breathless, clearly in a
state of panic, his clothes were muddy and there were grazes on
his arm and legs. Less than 24 hours earlier in the same North
Belfast district another nationalist, Brian Service, had been
shot dead by a loyalist death squad. A second nationalist escaped
a loyalist murder bid in the same area twenty minutes before
Brian Service was killed. Inside the Oldpark barracks the RUC
desk sergeant didn't want to know. The young man was simply told
``to go home''. This is his story.
On Saturday night, Sean and his brother had spent the evening at
the Jamaica Inn, a nationalist bar in the Ardoyne area of North
Belfast. It was not a bar normally frequented by the brothers but
the club was showing a boxing match transmitted by satellite and
the two decided to go. After the match, Sean lost sight of his
brother and assumed he had already left without him. Outside the
Inn there is a taxi depot. It was closed, but when Sean spotted a
car with three men sitting inside the vehicle he assumed it was a
waiting taxi. ``Where are you going?'' the driver asked. Sean said
he was going to the New Lodge and the driver told him to ``get
in.''
When the car didn't drive directly to the New Lodge, Sean wasn't
immediately worried - he just assumed the driver was dropping off
his other passengers first. At this point Sean's story becomes
confused. He has agreed to be interviewed by An Phoblacht as long
as his location and identity are protected. When we arrive for
the interview, Sean is seated in a far corner of the room. His
handshake is cold and sweaty, he speaks hesitantly and his voice
is shaky. This is clearly a man not simply living in fear but
still traumatised by an ordeal which is not yet over.
Sean was driven to a house in a district which he did not
recognise. Once inside the house he overheard one of the men
talking to a woman in another room. The woman said, ``you can't
stiff the bastard here.'' The man replied, ``I'll stiff the bastard
out the back.'' The woman continued, ``you know it's in the shed.''
Sean pretended to be more drunk than he was and asked to go to
the toilet. The man told him he'd ``better go outside the back.''
What followed was a terrifying scramble, as Sean struggled from
his captors, clambering over walls and fences, running back and
forth in what appeared to the terrified man as a maze of
alleyways. ``Get that fenian bastard,'' Sean heard one of the
loyalists shout as they pursued him on foot. At the time Sean
thought he heard a gunshot, but on reflection he's no longer
sure.
As Sean recounts his tale, he becomes increasingly distressed. At
one point he breaks with the narrative, ``I'm a dead man,'' he
says, ``I thought I was a dead man.''
When Sean ran into a dead-end, believing he was about to die, he
stood and prayed.
Eventually he made his way out of the estate and to the nearby
Old Park RUC barracks. As Sean breathlessly tried to recount his
ordeal, the RUC laughed it off, telling Sean to ``go home''. Still
fearing for his life, Sean left the RUC barracks and ran on to a
relative's house in the district.
``It was before 7am. Sean arrived in a terrible state,`` says his
relative, ``he hasn't slept or eaten since.'' Sean contacted his
solicitor and was later interviewed by RUC detectives at Antrim
Road Barracks investigating the murder of Brian Service.
Questions around the conduct of the RUC at the Oldpark barracks
remain unanswered. Two days after the incident the RUC press
office confirmed that ``a man did attend the Oldpark RUC station
in the early hours of Sunday morning. He was interviewed but no
complaint was made.``
Outside the Jamaica Inn, the spot where the loyalist gang parked
their car is overlooked by Oldpark barracks. A surveillance tower
with a number of video cameras is perched high above the Inn.
After interviewing Sean, An Phoblacht drove around the nearby
loyalist estate where Sean believes he was abducted. There was no
RUC presence, let alone RUC activity. Small wonder loyalist death
squads believe they can stalk the streets of Belfast with
impunity. Collusion is not always active, sometimes it only
involves turning a blind eye.
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/aprn.gif)