Kincora: Britain's Shame by Chris Moore - Strong and unnerving, some accounts linger like a bad taste
Author
:
Chris Moore
ISBN-13
:
9781785375545
Publisher
:
Merrion Press
Guideline Price
:
€19.99
When Chris Moore started working as a journalist with the
BBC
in 1979, one of his first assignments was to report on sexual abuse of boys at the
Kincora Boys' Home
on the Newtownards Road in
Belfast
.
That home was being run by three men, Joseph Mains, Raymond Semple and William McGrath, who were convicted of raping boys in their care.
But from an early stage there were indications that the story was much wider than the predations of these three horrors. McGrath was the leader of an eccentric loyalist paramilitary group called Tara, which was interested in reviving Irish identity among Protestants with a view to uniting Ireland inside the
UK
.
He was an evangelical preacher with a theology which endorsed his homosexual interests. Hadn't there been loving relationships between men in the Bible? Think Jesus and John.
READ MORE
McGrath's political connections raised suspicion that men in his wider circle were abusing children at Kincora too and, further, that the security services had an interest in suppressing the story and curtailing Moore's investigations.
Moore is now in his 70s and an independent researcher and writer, free of some of the constraints he believes the BBC imposed on him. And remarkably, he has stayed with this story and travelled the world to meet the men whose lives were tarnished by McGrath and others.
Much of Moore's approach is to extrapolate from evidence and in cases his extrapolations are strong and unnerving. There was interference from MI5. McGrath was an agent. MI5's interest was in exploring the connections between unionist politicians and loyalist paramilitaries.
There are compelling witness accounts here of boys being taken from the home to servicemen with secret lives, most notably Lord
Louis Mountbatten
, identified retrospectively by boys as their abuser from his picture on television after he was blown up in his boat by the
IRA
at Mullaghmore in 1979.
The book also reminds us of a time when McGrath's homosexuality was treated as criminal and sinful. The account of him being subjected on police orders to the discredited anal dilation test is one that, once read, lingers like a bad taste.
But a word to his publisher: a book like this should have end notes and an index.
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The Irish Sun
39 minutes ago
- The Irish Sun
The baby-faced molls running £20m drug empires & even plotting MURDER in Love Island-inspired ‘gangster chic' crime wave
Crime expert tells The Sun why young, glamorous women are risking their freedom for life in the narco underworld - and reveals how 'genuine sociopaths' live among us GLAM WARS The baby-faced molls running £20m drug empires & even plotting MURDER in Love Island-inspired 'gangster chic' crime wave THEIR jet-setting selfies make these young women look like they have the world at their feet, but behind the glamour lies tales of heroin smuggling, child 'slaves' and even a hitman murder. 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Alex also believes that some women begin as victims but adapt to survive and develop a taste for the very power that once terrified them. And she says social media has had a pivotal role to play in making a life of crime seem like a glamorous and exciting career choice for some young women. 'Social media puts a golden glow on to what's seen as 'gangster chic' making it a marketable fantasy,' she explains. 'Designer clothes, BMW selfies and luxury holidays serve as proof of status rather than warning signs. Gangster gran who used family to run UK-wide cocaine ring & splashed cash on designer accessories for her CAT is jailed 'But with all social media, the curated images hide the relentless paranoia, the endless waiting, and the ever-present threat of violence." 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Sian Banks 29 Grade A student Banks was busted for running a £20 million drug smuggling empire Credit: Facebook 29 She ended up being arrested in a nightclub in Ibiza Credit: Facebook Banks and 23-year-old Burton orchestrated two large-scale drug imports as the pair conspired to flood the UK with heroin, cocaine and ketamine. Border Force officials stopped two lorries in the summer of 2022 containing 307kg of drugs with a street value of £20million. A huge manhunt was launched for Burton, whose DNA was found on the smuggled goods. Cops managed to track the criminal to party island Ibiza where he was arrested in Pacha nightclub. 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Burns had driven Upton, 25, to Hull four times and made two trips with one of the boys. 29 Burns avoided jail by the "skin of her teeth" Credit: MEN Media 29 Jamie Upton was jailed for nine years and three months Credit: Cavendish Her defence barrister told Bolton Crown Court that she had been in a relationship with Upton since being just 16-years-old, and that she did not like the excitement of a criminal lifestyle - she had been manipulated and controlled. In May 2023, Burns, who was at this point, 22, and Upton of Newton Heath, Manchester admitted being concerned in the supply of crack and heroin between March 2020 and March 2021. Burns was told she had avoided prison "by the skin of her teeth", and was sentenced to two years jail suspended for two years and was ordered to complete 200 hours unpaid work. Upton, who also pleaded guilty to arranging the travel of another person with a view to exploitation under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply, was jailed for nine years and three months. Jessica Lang 29 Jessica Lang was jailed for five years for helping her brothers and boyfriend run a criminal empire Credit: Cavendish Press 29 The hairdresser was just 21 when she was jailed Credit: Cavendish Press Pretty hairdresser Jessica Lang was only 21 when she was jailed for five years for helping her brothers and boyfriend run a £3million drugs empire. The mum-of-one would join her lover Scott Le Drew on cash deliveries and liaised with her brothers Bradley and Anthony Gill as they arranged vast quantities of cocaine, cannabis and amphetamine to be ferried from Manchester to Blackpool. Police using bugging equipment taped Lang as she sat in a car with Le Drew and advised him how he should conduct his money collections. She also passed messages between members of their gang using encrypted mobile phones as they peddled the narcotics to addicts in Blackpool. 29 Lang was caught when police bugged her car Credit: Cavendish Press 29 Le Drew was jailed for 11 years Credit: Cavendish Press In 2018, at Preston Crown Court, Lang, from Grange Park, Blackpool, denied wrongdoing but was convicted of conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis and sentenced to five years in prison. Anthony Gill, 33, from Middleton, and Bradley Gill, 28, from Blackpool both admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and were each sentenced to 14 years. Le Drew, 31, was jailed for 11 years and four months after he was convicted of conspiracy to supply class A and class B drugs and possession of a prohibited weapon CS gas. Amy King 29 Amy King escaped jail after she made a brave statement about her drug dealing ex Credit: Cavendish 29 The 25-year-old pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis with intent to supply Credit: Cavendish Amy King came from a devout Methodist family but faced up to seven years in prison after stashing cannabis for her drug dealer boyfriend. The 25-year-old pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis with intent to supply and conspiracy to deal in cannabis in 2023 but escaped jail after the judge praised her bravery in giving a statement about her drug dealer ex. 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Emma Lavery 29 Emma Lavery was living a life far more expensive than her Topshop earnings should have allowed Credit: Cavendish 29 Lavery and her boyfriend Adam Hussain embarked on a luxury 'Instagram' lifestyle Credit: Cavendish Shop assistant Lavery earned just £7,000 a year in Topshop, but still managed to splash out on designer gear, a BMW, European city breaks and private healthcare. But after she clocked off from her day job she was secretly helping her boyfriend run a cocaine empire. Don't forget bags, have you got bags, I need bags Emma Lavery Lavery, then 24, carried a Gucci handbag and moved into a luxury apartment with Adam Hussain after he set up a drugs racket in which he ran a team of street dealers. 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