UKDirty tricksofficer wins murder appeal
01 September 1996
Colin Wallace, the former army intelligence officer who revealed a covert propaganda campaign in northern Ireland, had his conviction for murder overturned at the High Court in October. Wallace, who served a six year prison term between 1981-86, has consistently claimed that he was framed for the murder of a friend, Jonathan Lewis, after exposing a disinformation unit which attempted to undermine the Labour Party prime minister, Harold Wilson, during the 1970s.
Wallace served as a Public Relations officer at the British Army headquarters in Lisburn, Northern Ireland from 1968 until 1975. Despite his work title his unofficial role was as a propaganda officer whose work was to discredit the Republican movement through the use of disinformation or "black" propaganda. This project, known as "Clockwork Orange", broadened its scope to include undermining British Labour Party politicians in the run-up to the 1974 general election.
Among the information that Wallace's passed to his superior officers, were reports concerning the Kincora Boys' Home in Belfast. This was run by loyalist paramilitary commander and informer, William McGrath, who systematically sexually abused the boys in his care. Some reports suggest that this paedophile network extended to senior figures in the British establishment and was covered-up by the security services and police. Wallace was dismissed in 1975 after protesting at the lack of action at the Boys Home and following the intervention of the security services.
Some five years later, in 1980 - the same year as the press was eventually to expose the Kincora scandal - Wallace found himself charged with the murder of his friend, Jonathan Lewis. Wallace was implicated because he had arranged to meet him on the evening of his death to discuss a friendship that had developed between him and Lewis' wife. At his trial in 1981 Wallace was found guilty of manslaughter and jailed for ten years.
Wallace had always maintained that the evidence against him was manipulated and the Appeal Court agreed with him. New evidence suggested that a pathologists report was untenable and that eye-witness evidence, relating to the time of Lewis' death, had been discounted. Additional evidence, suggesting incorrectly that Wallace had been trained by the SAS, was widely published in newspapers and could have convinced the jury that Wallace was capable of killing.
Despite being cleared at the end of the trial Wallace's ordeal was not over as the prosecution announced that they intended to pursue the matter and obtain a retrial. This was dismissed by the Court of Appeal on the 14 October. Meanwhile Colin Wallace has called for a full inquiry into the trial and the events that surrounded it.
Paul Foot Who framed Colin Wallace (MacMillan) 1989; Guardian 10.10.96, Times 10.10.96.