I know, the very people who Keyrung worships have just gone again: The family of a Northern Ireland prison officer murdered as he drove to work has been left "absolutely devastated". David Black, 52, from Cookstown was attacked on the M1 motorway at 07:30 GMT as he drove to HMP Maghaberry. Dissident republicans are being blamed. It is the first time in nearly 20 years that a member of the Northern Ireland Prison Service has been murdered. The Black's family minister, Rev Tom Greer, said his family has appealed for no retaliation "from any quarter". "David's wife Yvonne is broken by the loss of her husband," he said. "His children Kyle and Kyra are in a state of shock and are unable to comprehend what has happened, the brutal murder of their father." Mr Greer, from Molesworth Presbyterian Church, said that Mr Black was a man who had a "great sense of humour" and was "devoted" to his family and aged parents. "He was also a guy who was a friend to so many people in this community," he added. It is the second tragedy to strike the family in the past year. In November last year, Mrs Black lost her father in a slurry tank accident at his farm in Maghera. Mr Black was attacked on the motorway between Portadown and Lurgan. A car with Dublin registration plates drove up beside him and fired a number of shots. His car veered into a ditch. Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris said he sustained very serious and probably fatal gunshot wounds. Mr Black's car veered into a ditch The car with Dublin registration plates was later found burned out at Inglewood, Lurgan, County Armagh. There has been widespread condemnation of the murder. Prime Minister David Cameron said the Westminster government would do whatever it could to help the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) bring the killers to justice. "First and foremost this is a dreadful tragedy for the family and friends of David Black who has been so brutally murdered as he went about his work keeping the people of Northern Ireland safe," he said. "My heart goes out to them. These killers will not succeed in denying the people of Northern Ireland the peaceful, shared future they so desperately want." Continue reading the main story Analysis Vincent Kearney BBC NI home affairs correspondent -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There is a sense of shock at the first killing of a prison officer in Northern Ireland for almost 20 years, but not surprise. Prison officers have been under threat from dissident republicans for a number of years now. There has been a general threat as well as specific threats against some individuals. A number have had to move home under a government funded scheme after being informed that dissidents were monitoring their movements and they were being targeted for possible attack. David Black is not believed to be one of those who had been warned. Read more On Wednesday, NI Secretary Theresa Villiers, told a Westminster committee that the level of threat from dissident republicans in Northern Ireland remained "severe". However, she said the number of attacks so far this year was slightly down on the same period last year and that their "sophistication and potency" were on the whole lower. First Minister Peter Robinson said those responsible for Mr Black's murder were "flat earth fanatics" and "deviants". He added that the murder would only serve to galvanise and unify the community and its leaders. Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness unreservedly condemned the murder and said those responsible could not kill the peace process. He said there was an onus on what he called the "mouthpieces" who sometimes speak for these groups to come out to explain the rationale behind "this pointless and futile killing". PSNI Chief Constable Matt Baggott said the killing was a "completely senseless attack" and the victim was "brutally murdered". Mr Black's murder was also condemned by the Orange Order. He had been a member of Montober LOL 661, a lodge based in Cookstown. Louise Cullen spoke to the minister for BBC Newsline. Mr Black was a very experienced prison officer and had worked through the Troubles. He was one of hundreds of officers who had applied for the prison service redundancy scheme. His application was under consideration and he was awaiting a decision. Mr Black was the 30th prison worker to be murdered since 1974 in Northern Ireland
A hearing to decide whether Sean Quinn and his son have complied with court orders in their ongoing legal battle with an Irish bank has been adjourned. Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne said she wanted to consider submissions made by IBRC, the former Anglo Irish Bank and Sean Quinn, once Ireland's richest man. Mr Quinn's lawyers earlier appealed to the court not to jail him for contempt. Eugene Grant QC said Mr Quinn said it was his 'impassioned plea' to the court not to jail the 66-year-old. "This man is bankrupted, forlorn, looking back at a starry career in the context of serious medical problems." "It is important to stress he is 66 years of age with a totally clear and unblemished record," he said and went on to describe Mr Quinn as 'one of Fermanagh's finest'. "A man who, until these affairs with Anglo, stood tall as a leading light in the Celtic Tiger." 'Poor chance' Eugene Grant QC said that Mr Quinn believes that IBRC are guilty of a grave injustice and that he was 'fraudulently induced' to borrow money to prop up the Anglo share price. Mr Quinn admits taking part in an asset stripping scheme but denies breaching court orders and he is appealing to the Supreme Court the findings of contempt against him. Lawyers for IBRC told the court details of an asset recovery agency they have employed to help recover Quinn property assets in Russia and Ukraine. An affidavit by IBRC executive Richard Woodhouse, submitted to court, revealed the 'poor' chances of the bank recovering up to 500 million euros worth of overseas properties. The bank said it was approaching "end point" in terms of recovering the assets. Shane Murphy SC, for IBRC, told the court the bank continues to be met with 'fraudulent activity and delay' which the bank claims is orchestrated by the Quinn family to prevent it recovering assets in companies based in Russia, Ukraine and India. Mr Murphy said the 'core issue' of the hearing was this was a serious contempt with the object of putting assets beyond the reach of IBRC and the evidence was Mr Quinn had not purged that contempt. "This is a case of civil contempt not criminal contempt' he said, adding that the court was confronted with the decision whether or not 'certain consequences' should follow. Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne will rule on Friday 2 November on whether to impose a punitive sanction on the 66-year-old businessman.
Robert McCartney murder: Leading republican faces charges Padraic Wilson was the leader of the IRA in the Maze Prison in the late 1990s A leading republican has been charged with two offences by police investigating offences in relation to the murder of Robert McCartney in 2005. It is understood he is Padraic Wilson, who was the leader of IRA prisoners in the Maze Prison in the late 1990s. He is to appear at Belfast Magistrates' Court on Friday charged with IRA membership and addressing a meeting to encourage support of the IRA. Mr McCartney, 33, was stabbed to death outside Magennis's bar in Belfast.
There's nothing like buying a hamster and sticking him in your ass. You will need the following supplies: 1 bottle of KY warm sensation, personal liquid lubricant. 1 roll of duct tape. 1 small to medium sized hamster. 1 bottle of Detol. (which is an alcoholic disinfectant) The first step, obviously, is to purchase the hamster. Try to get the most energetic one, you will understand the reasoning behind this later. Once you get him home, clip his nails. Now, you must dillute the detol in a bucket of water. This is to kill off any harmful infections that may be on the hamster's skin. Make sure to avoid the hamster’s facial area, as we don't want to kill him yet. For the face, carefully use an alcohol pad. After he is clean, dry him off. Once that is done, apply a medium coat of the KY warm sensations liquid lubricant to the hamster’s body. Before doing anything else, be sure to keep the duct tape easily accessible. Keep a pair of scissors around and leave the tip of the tape a little open, so you can easily pull. This is necessary because you might have to do the first part of the taping with one hand. Now, grab him from the middle and start to slowly insert him into your anus, backside first. This way, you'll be sure not to suffocate him too early. Use your free hand to kind of open up your asshole and help slide the hamster in. As soon as you get the hamster fully inserted, use your index and middle finger to apply some gentle pressure to the hamster's head and push him in a bit more. Now, with your free hand, grab the duct tape. As soon as you take your fingers out of your ass, you must quickly push the duct-tape in, covering the exit of the anus. Once you get the first piece of tape in, just continue wrapping around the pelvis in a crisscross pattern, going between the legs and such. Now, the real fun begins. The hamster starts fighting, thrashing around, and trying to escape. But, the duct tape holds him securely inside the cage that is your anus. The thrashing around feels marvelous and is sure to make you cum at least twice. Combined with the warming lubricant, it is simply breathtaking. Once the hamster stops fighting, which usually take anywhere from five to seven minutes, and you can't feel him move, the hamster has expired. Unwrap the tape and take him out. Wrap him in a plastic bag, as well as an old shirt and throw him away
@rangerstaxcase RTC Exclusive: Charles Green is the subject a new tax inquiry- separate from the Zeus investigation
"The big one shot me in the right leg, and cracked me in the back of the head with his gun. Then he held me down, and the other two took a shot each in my other leg." So-called punishment shootings are taking place in nationalist communities Matthew and Silvia - not their real names - sit side by side in their living room as they describe the night three masked men burst in and targeted Matthew in a paramilitary-style shooting. Silvia points to the wooden floor. "You can see the bullet holes over there. And there's still a bullet in Matthew's leg. "I thought they were going to shoot him dead. And anything could have gone wrong - my son could have got it, but they just didn't care. It's just a nightmare, something you wake up to every day." The men were in and out of the house in two minutes. Peak year Matthew and Silvia believe dissident republicans ordered the attack after Matthew was accused of being a drug dealer, a charge he denies. Punishment shootings by paramilitary groups have always been a feature of the conflict in Northern Ireland. If you go to the police, you get a death threat 'Matthew', punishment shooting victim In both loyalist and republican areas they have been used against alleged criminals, and as a way of controlling the community. According to Police Service of Northern Ireland statistics, in the post-Good Friday era they rose to a high of 190 incidents in the year to April 2002, with two-thirds of those carried out by loyalist groups. In the year 2007/2008, that figure had fallen to just seven attacks, five of them by republicans. But in the last year there have been 20 recorded attacks. Eighteen of those have been in republican areas. Last week alone there were three reported attacks. Jim Auld, a former republican prisoner and one of the leading lights of Community Restorative Justice Ireland, an organisation founded in the 1990s in response to punishment shootings, is worried. Minority support "The dissident republican groups want to show they're invaluable to the community. In overall terms those groups have very minimal support," he says. Fr Gary Donegan is called as a mediator to stop so-called punishment shootings "But if they are seen to be dealing with persistent offenders who're engaging in anti-social activities, the community sees that and by and large will support it." A dissident republican group calling itself Oglaigh na hEireann has claimed responsibility for 15 recent punishment-style shootings. Father Gary Donegan, a priest at the Holy Cross Church in north Belfast is often called on to negotiate by phone to stop punishment attacks. Callers have claimed to be from Continuity IRA, the Real IRA and Oglaigh na hEireann. Kidnap mediation If potential victims in his parish are issued with a warning, then there is a chance Father Gary can intervene. But he has to wait until the gunmen make contact. "Sometimes that happens through a phone call made to the monastery here, and they tell me an individual's under critical threat," he says. Fr Gary has mediated in around two dozen cases in the last six months. Matthew had no warning of the brutal attack that may have left him permanently disabled. Now he walks with a pronounced limp, the bones in his legs below the knees held together with metal pins. Matthew, Silvia and their son are on medication - anti-depressants and sleeping pills. Matthew says he came close to committing suicide at Christmas time, and that the attack has ruined the family. These are the most difficult crimes to solve simply because of the nature of the crime, the brutality of it and indeed the fact that communities still sometimes don't feel confident in talking to the police service Sir Hugh Orde, Chief Constable, Police Service of Northern Ireland "It's turned the house upside down. I sleep with my wee boy every night. He won't go to bed till I go to bed," he adds. Death threats Although the police arrived quickly on the night of the shooting, no-one has been charged. But Matthew is also scared to talk to the police. "If you go to the police, you get a death threat," he says. Sir Hugh Orde, the Chief Constable of Northern Ireland, believes his force can deal with this threat. "These are the most difficult crimes to solve simply because of the nature of the crime, the brutality of it and indeed the fact that communities still sometimes don't feel confident in talking to the police service. Our job is to dismantle those groups," he says. "You may not catch them for a punishment shooting but you can take them out for drug dealing, for organised crime, smuggling, all the other issues. So I am confident we are very effective at disrupting and arresting people who are linked to and engaged in that sort of activity." Matthew does not share the Chief Constable's confidence, "The dissident republican groups are here. My legs are proof of that. And I'm from a republican family, so now they are turning on their own."
The police, the Catholic Church and the state conspired to cover up a priest's suspected role in one of the worst atrocities of the Northern Ireland Troubles, an investigation has found. Nine people died in bombings in Claudy, County Londonderry on 31 July 1972. The NI Police Ombudsman's probe found that high-level talks led to Fr James Chesney, a suspect in the attack, being moved to the Irish Republic.
Criminal investigations have been launched into tax schemes sold by a key shareholder in Rangers Football Club, The Times has learnt. Richard Hughes, the co-founder of Zeus Capital, the finance company at the centre of the Rangers takeover, also set up Zeus Partners, which created and marketed a £134 million film investment scheme that HM Revenue & Customs suspects may be part of an illegal effort to generate millions of pounds in tax relief. The Revenue is understood to be investigating 17 companies set up by Zeus Partners. Criminal investigations by HMRC are reserved for the most serious cases of suspected illegality including those where “only a criminal sanction is appropriate”. Mr Hughes, who has more than two million shares in Rangers, a stake of 6.8 per cent, played a pivotal role in the purchase of the Glasgow club after it went into administration in February. The collapse came after Rangers’ previous owners became embroiled in disputes with the Revenue. The club has been beset by tax problems that led to the new Rangers, who play at Ibrox Stadium, being forced to start from the fourth tier of Scottish football this season. The Revenue claims to be owed an estimated £73 million in tax and penalties after the club used a tax avoidance scheme to pay its players for nearly a decade. Rangers went into administration over a separate tax problem, when Craig Whyte, who bought it last year, failed to pay an £18 million PAYE bill. When Zeus Capital and the businessman Charles Green bought the club for £5.5 million in June, they presented their consortium of investors as a “new beginning”. But a year before the acquisition, Revenue officials raided premises associated with Zeus Partners, two sources told The Times, as well as offices of Seven Arts Entertainment, the US film company that was counterparty to the deal. Neither Zeus Partners nor HMRC commented on the alleged raid. “They showed up, knocked on the door, and said, ‘We want to come and look at the records’,” one person said of the Seven Arts raid. “They took everything under the sun.” Mr Hughes, who has one of the biggest shareholdings in Rangers, founded Zeus Partners as an offshoot of Zeus Capital, in 2006. It was set up so wealthy individuals could access “returns that Zeus Capital has been achieving for its corporate clients”. Two other partners run the day-to-day business, although one said that Mr Hughes retained an “active role”. Mr Hughes stands to make millions of pounds when Rangers floats on the stockmarket before Christmas. Three other Zeus Capital executives, who do not work at Zeus Partners, own stakes in the club, making the finance house collectively its largest owner. There is no evidence that Zeus Capital marketed schemes similar to those offered by Zeus Partners. The Revenue is not investigating Zeus Capital, the company involved in the Rangers takeover. Zeus Partners’ controversial film deal attracted about 165 high-net worth individuals including Hugh Sloane, the hedge-fund mogul and Tory donor, and Laurie McIlwee, chief finance officer of Tesco. Individual investors are not being investigated by HMRC, however. Each investor was offered a “high-risk film production” deal to buy a total of eight new films and some library content from Seven Arts. The deal was structured so that, in the event that the films were “blockbusters”, the investors would double their money. If they did badly, the investment would be largely wiped out and the cost could be written off against the investors’ other income. Films purchased from Seven Arts included Knife Edge, a 2009 British thriller starring Hugh Bonneville and Tamsin Egerton, The Winter Queen, starring Milla Jovovich, and Autopsy, a horror film directed by Adam Gierasch. None appears to have achieved anywhere close to the “blockbuster” level that would have generated profit. American Summer made only $2,269, according to Box Office Mojo. Deal, a 2008 film starring Burt Reynolds, is said to have made $61,625. A year after signing the deal in May 2008, Zeus Partners declared that each of the 17 companies was worthless, their accounts show, enabling investors to claim tax relief. At the time, however, a number of films had yet to be released. One, The Winter Queen, had not been made. “One of the key questions is how would the investors have known the stock was worthless as early as 2009, when some of the titles had yet to be released,” a person close to Seven Arts said. Up to 84 per cent of an investor’s contribution was financed by a loan from Seven Arts. The loan was secured against the companies, so investors were not personally liable if films failed. An investor who put in £160,000 could borrow about £840,000 and claim tax relief on the full £1 million without being liable to pay back the loan. For a high-net-worth investor the tax relief would be between £400,000 and £500,000. Rebus Investment Solutions, a company representing several disgruntled Zeus investors, said their clients had been advised that the film deal was a “win-win scenario”. “The deal was based on the notion that, if the films were successful, investors would see huge returns and, if they were unsuccessful, they would be able to claim tax relief on the losses,” a spokesman said. “Such a bullish view failed to take into account the significant risks, including potential challenges by HMRC.” A Rangers spokesman said yesterday that Mr Hughes was “one of a number of minority investors” and had “no involvement in the management of the club”, and that Rangers had “no business relationship with Zeus Capital”. However, in June, Zeus Capital said that it “worked in conjunction with Charles Green to complete the £5.5 million acquisition of Rangers”. In the same month, Zeus Capital was described by Malcolm Murray, the new chairman, as “the primary advisers” on the Rangers deal. Mr Hughes is understood to believe that the focus of the criminal investigation is on Seven Arts, not Zeus Partners. He denied that the film investments could be illegal or amounted to tax avoidance. The investments had been approved by qualified accountants before being marketed. He also said that he had not been contacted by HMRC in relation to the film investigation since it began about 18 months ago. A spokesman for Zeus Partners said: “Zeus Partners provided a number of high-risk investment opportunities, backing highly successful entrepreneurs with a proven track record across a number of sectors. Individual investors had the option of claiming HMRC statutory relief in the event that the investments were unsuccessful. We are aware that there is an HMRC investigation into these and other investments under way at this time and Zeus Partners is providing its full co-operation to HMRC.” Seven Arts strongly denied claims that it, rather than Zeus, was the focus of the Revenue investigation. Peter Hoffman, chief executive of Seven Arts, said: “There was nothing fraudulent about the transaction, it was perfectly valid. These were real movies we were intending to make money on.” Mr Sloane said he had not claimed for tax relief on the Seven Arts investment. Mr McIlwee and the Revenue both declined to comment. http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/money/...cle3587849.ece
A high-profile American priest in the Legionaries of Christ has acknowledged having had a sexual relationship with a woman and fathering her child, adding another chapter to the growing scandals surrounding the controversial religious order. Fr. Thomas Williams, known for his work as a TV commentator and popular spiritual writer and speaker, issued a statement today confirming he had fathered a child with a woman “a number of years ago,” and said that he and the superiors of the order have decided that he will take a year off without any public ministry “to reflect on my commitments as a priest.” “I am truly sorry to everyone who is hurt by this revelation,” Williams said in the statement. Out of what he described as “respect for the privacy of the woman and her child,” Williams declined to identify the woman or provide other details. He confirmed, however, that the relationship had occurred while he was already a priest and a member of the Legionaries. Williams told NCR the woman has declined economic assistance, and that she was neither his student nor someone to whom he had offered spiritual direction. Williams decided to come forward after a former Legionary priest in Chile, who is now active in a group called the “Association of Aid for Victims of the Legion of Christ,” reported rumors of the affair to senior Vatican officials. A copy of that report was obtained by NCR. The report also asserted that Williams has had sexual relations with students at the Legion’s university in Rome, Regina Apostolorum, where until recently he was on the faculty. Williams denied those charges. The report further alleged that Williams had a sexual relationship with the daughter of a prominent American Catholic personality. On that point, Williams said he will not comment on specific individuals. Fr. Luis Garza, the top official for the Legion in North America, sent a letter to members today informing them that Williams will undergo “a period of reflection, prayer and atonement.” “In the wake of all that we have been through as a movement in the past several years, it won’t surprise me if you are disappointed, angry or feel your trust shaken once again,” Garza wrote, saying that any further information “is at the discretion of those involved.” Because Williams’ relationship did not involve a minor or accusations of abuse, it is not subject to the Vatican’s anti-abuse procedures. Traditionally, the Vatican has left discipline for transgressions involving a consensual relationship to the priest’s superiors, in this case the leaders of the Legion and the papal delegate appointed by Benedict XVI to oversee the order, Italian Cardinal Velasio de Paolis. Born in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., Williams was ordained a Legionary priest in 1994. In recent years, he’s emerged as perhaps the best-known American member of the Legion of Christ, particularly in the media. In addition to teaching at Regina Apostolorum, Williams has served as a Vatican and religious affairs analyst for NBC, CBS, and Sky News, and has published 14 books on Catholic spirituality and doctrine, including Becoming the Christian You Want to Be and A Christian Guide to Conscience. He’s also been a speaker in Catholic venues around the world. Williams has played several leadership roles within the Legion, including acting as publisher of “Zenit,” a web-based news agency sponsored by the order, for 10 years. The news about Williams comes as the Legionaries have confirmed that at least seven other priests in the troubled order are currently being investigated for alleged sexual abuse of minors. The order recently announced that an internal probe had uncovered “some allegations of gravely immoral acts and more serious offenses”, which have been reported to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Vatican spokesperson, Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, confirmed the cases were being reviewed, saying that most “date back decades.” In turn, the recent revelations build upon a crisis in the Legion that exploded in 2006, when the Vatican sentenced its founder, the late Mexican Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, to a life of “prayer and penance.” The order was later forced to acknowledge that Maciel had been guilty of a wide range of misconduct, including the sexual abuse of members, fathering children out of wedlock, and misappropriation of funds. The following is the full text of the statement released by Williams on May 15: “A number of years ago I had a relationship with a woman and fathered her child. I am deeply sorry for this grave transgression and have tried to make amends. My superiors and I have decided it would be best for me to take a year without active public ministry to reflect on the wrong I have done and my commitments as a priest. I am truly sorry to everyone who is hurt by this revelation, and I ask for your prayers as I seek guidance on how to make up for my errors.” Williams, who is currently undergoing medical treatment for a form of cancer, said he’s likely to spend his year with his parents in Michigan. [John L. Allen Jr. is NCR senior correspondent. His e-mail address is [email protected].]
Belfast, Northern Ireland (CNN) -- The Catholic Church in Ireland has launched an investigation into claims that a priest accidentally showed gay pornography pictures during a presentation to parents. The incident happened at a grade school in Pomeroy, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Parents said images were projected onto a screen during the meeting, held as part of preparations for First Holy Communion by schoolchildren. The leader of Ireland's Catholics, Cardinal Sean Brady, issued a statement Monday admitting that "inappropriate imagery was inadvertently shown by a priest at the beginning of a PowerPoint presentation." The statement went on the say the material "was immediately removed from the screen" and "the priest has stated that he had no knowledge of the offending imagery." The pope, political prisoners and Cuba The church reported the incident to police, but it appears a prosecution is not being considered. Catholics greet pope in Mexico Brady's statement said: "The archdiocese immediately sought the advice of the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) who indicated that, on the basis of the evidence available, no crime had been committed." Hackers take down Vatican website According to Brady: "The priest is cooperating with an investigation of the matter on the part of the archdiocese." Police spoke with CNN on Monday, saying: "The incident has been reported to us, we have advised that no criminal offences have been disclosed at this time -- and anything else is a matter for the CCMS (Council for Catholic Maintained Schools) or the diocese." However, parents say they were "horrified" by what they saw and want action to be taken. Parishioners planned a protest outside the local church Sunday, but the demonstration was called off when it emerged that the priest involved in the communion presentation, the Rev. Martin McVeigh, would not be present at Mass. In a statement, parents have questioned why the priest has not been suspended by the archdiocese pending its investigation. The latest controversy comes after a series of child sex abuse scandals involving Catholic Church clergy in Ireland. In March, the Vatican released a major report into the problem, begging forgiveness from victims. However, victims hit out at the report's finding that new safeguards are working.
