An alleged informer was in hiding under RUC protection, the High Court in Belfast was told yesterday. Confirmation that Mr John Bowen (29) was in police hands came as five men were charged in connection with his kidnapping in west Belfast a week ago.
Mr Bowen, a father of three, of Clandeboye Drive, east Belfast, disappeared after a press conference called by the Irish Republican Socialist Party. He claimed he had been working for the RUC special branch for 12 years and had been paid to reveal the hiding place of INLA weapons and to compromise their operations.
The revelation that Mr Bowen had sought police protection came during a High Court hearing. "I remain with the police of my own volition and wish to continue to do so," he said in an affidavit. It was read during a habeas corpus application by his wife, Angela. After hearing her husband's affidavit, the Lord Chief Justice, Sir Robert Carswell, and Lord Justice Campbell dismissed her application.
Later, five men appeared at Belfast Magistrates' Court accused of falsely imprisoning Mr Bowen and conspiring to cause him grievous bodily harm. The defendants, all from Belfast, were Mr Daniel Hughes (31), of Rossnareen Avenue; Mr Thomas McCorry (30), of Cavendish Street; Mr Sean McEvoy (32), of Dermott Hill Road; Mr Gerald Anderson (34), of Clyde Court, and Mr Thomas Reynolds (32), of Ballymurphy Road. They were remanded in custody until October 7th.