Page "Royal Ulster Constabulary" Paragraph 44

Elements of the RUC are alleged to have colluded extensively with loyalist paramilitaries throughout the 30-year conflict in Northern Ireland.

Particularly prominent in this regard were the actions of the specialist anti-terrorist unit, the Special Patrol Group.

This unit was formed in the early 1970s and was disbanded in 1980 after two of its members were convicted of terrorist offences including kidnap and murder.

The two, John Weir and Billy McCaughey implicated their colleagues in a range of crimes including giving weapons, information and transport to loyalist paramilitaries as well as carrying out shooting and bombing attacks of their own.