Intelligence services ‘did not know of Kincora abuse until after scandal broke’

NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

The intelligence services knew nothing about child abuse at Kincora until after the scandal broke some years later, a lawyer has said.

Counsel for the police invited the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) Inquiry to strike down allegations which it was claimed were fuelled by a small number of individuals who failed to give evidence.

Former Army officer Colin Wallace has been a key voice in claims of a cover-up by intelligence services of sex abuse at the former Kincora Boys’ Home. He declined to appear before the panel.

Neasa Murnaghan, who represents the Northern Ireland Office, MI5 and MI6 and the Ministry of Defence, said: “This inquiry should be able to conclude firstly that each of the four core participants knew nothing relevant about child abuse in Kincora until after the scandal broke in the middle of the 1980s, that all of the efforts to the contrary are without foundation and don’t withstand scrutiny.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.