Kincora abuse: House of horrors was at the heart of correspondence involving British security services, documents reveal

By Chris Kilpatrick
Belfast Live
July 22, 2015

http://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/kincora-abuse-house-horrors-heart-9711241

The notorious East Belfast home which was formerly Kincora

Allegations of abuse and trafficking of children to England have centred on the East Belfast home

The notorious Kincora house of horrors was at the heart of correspondence involving British security services, historical Government documents on child abuse have revealed.

Allegations of abuse and trafficking of children to England have centred on the East Belfast home.

The newly released batch of file names reportedly reveal former intelligence officer Colin Wallace raised concerns about abuse at Kincora.

Mr Wallace previously told how he spoke out about the abuse four decades ago – but no action was taken.

Amnesty International said the latest revelations “will only fuel public disquiet that Kincora has been excluded from the one inquiry which has a chance of getting at the truth”.

It has long been suspected well-known figures within the British establishment, including high-ranking civil servants and senior military officers, were involved in the abuse.

The depraved treatment which took place at Kincora in the 1970s is not being investigated as part of a powerful Westminster inquiry.

Instead it falls under the remit of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry in Banbridge, Co Down.

It lacks powers to compel evidence or witnesses from government departments or the security services, to investigate claims the security services failed to protect victims from high-profile abusers.

The papers had been stored by the Cabinet Office.

Following requests from Sky News, the Government revealed papers exist that relate to Margaret Thatcher’s former parliamentary secretary the late Sir Peter Morrison, former Home Secretary the late Leon Brittan, former diplomat the late Sir Peter Hayman and former minister the late Sir William van Straubenzee.

In January the Government released details of a file prepared for Mrs Thatcher’s office on the ‘unnatural sexual’ behaviours of one of the men Sir Peter Hayman.

The new batch reveal there were further Government papers relating to the former MI6 man and career diplomat, according to Sky.

It comes after the Wanless and Whittam review of Government papers last year that failed to find many of the relevant abuse files held by Government departments.

The Cabinet Office apologised for the ‘flaw’ in the way they responded to the request for information.

Permanent Secretary Richard Heaton wrote to Whittam and Wanless in May saying: “I deeply regret that the Cabinet Office failed to identify the papers in question when you first asked for them.”

The contents of the papers have been shared with police and will be passed to the Child Abuse Inquiry headed up by Justice Lowell Goddard.

Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland Programme director Patrick Corrigan, said: “If Theresa May knew these papers existed, how could she exclude Kincora from the Goddard Inquiry?

“The latest revelations will only fuel public disquiet that Kincora has been excluded from the one inquiry which has a chance of getting at the truth.

“Kincora should be investigated alongside claims of establishment involvement in child abuse rings in other parts of the UK.

“Nothing less than a full public inquiry – with all the powers of compulsion which that brings – can finally reveal what happened at Kincora. It is not too late for the government to reconsider its position.”

One of the child sex abuse victims from Kincora is challenging Kincora’s exclusion from the inquiry in a judicial review being considered in Belfast High Court.

Gary Hoy, who was abused by two of the men who were subsequently convicted, is taking legal action to force a full independent inquiry with the power to compel witnesses and the security services to hand over documents.

The judicial review case has heard allegations that MI5 was involved in covering up the sexual abuse of children in order to protect an intelligence-gathering operation it ran in the 1970s. A decision in the judicial review case is expected in the Autumn.