Editing Stevens Inquiries (section)

==Stevens 1==

===Loughlin Maginn===
In September 1989 RUC chief constable, [[Sir Hugh Annesley]], ordered the initial enquiry about the circumstances following the August 1989 death of Loughlin Maginn.<ref>p147 ''Not for the Faint-Hearted;''</ref> Maginn, a 28-year-old [[Catholic Church|Catholic]], was shot by the [[Ulster Defence Association]] (UDA) at his home in Lissize, near [[Rathfriland]]. Although Maginn had no paramilitary connections,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/alpha/M.html |title=CAIN Database of Deaths |access-date=10 April 2009 |archive-date=8 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608065523/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/alpha/M.html |url-status=live }}</ref> the UDA claimed he was a [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] (IRA) [[intelligence officer]]. In an attempt to prove the accuracy of their targeting, the UDA published security force documents and a video of police intelligence. (It was later found that the video had been provided by sympathetic soldiers using equipment supplied by UDA double agent [[Brian Nelson (double agent)|Brian Nelson]]).<ref>[[The Independent]] ''Will Ulster's dirty war claim one of Britain's most senior soldiers?'' 17 April 2003</ref>

===Obstruction===
Stevens would later claim in a book he wrote that from the investigation's outset there was a concerted campaign to discredit the inquiries among elements of the British media.<ref name=P153>p153 ''Not for the Faint-Hearted;''</ref> He also claimed that when he enquired with the British military authorities on whether or not a dedicated [[Intelligence Corps (United Kingdom)|Intelligence Corps]] unit operated in Northern Ireland, he was told that there were no such units currently operating there. Stevens later discovered that the [[Force Research Unit]] (FRU) was indeed operating in Northern Ireland when senior RUC officers blamed the unit for an arson attack at his Inquiry headquarters.<ref name=P2>p2 ''Not for the Faint-Hearted;''</ref>

Following their discovery of the then-unknown [[Brian Nelson (double agent)|Brian Nelson]]'s fingerprints on security documents, the Inquiry team encountered a wall of silence as they tried to investigate further: Brian Fitzsimmons, Acting Head of the [[RUC Special Branch|RUC's Special Branch]], became evasive, telling Stevens: ''We can't help you with this man;'' and, at the Grosvenor Road station, Nelson's card in the intelligence card system was initially whipped away from the investigators. However, the team persevered and gathered enough fresh evidence to plan a secret operation to arrest Nelson on Monday 10 January 1990.<ref>p157 ''Not for the Faint-Hearted;''</ref>

Stevens went home the weekend before the planned arrest. As he returned to Belfast on the Sunday afternoon, there were two [[journalist]]s on the plane; they informed him that they had been sent over to cover the raids. It was obvious that there had been a leak, and it was decided to postpone the operation for 24 hours.<ref>p7 ''Not for the Faint-Hearted''</ref> In the meantime, Nelson escaped to England.

That night there was a fire at the team's incident room within the {{convert|17|acre|m2|adj=on}} secure complex at Sea Park, the RUC's [[Carrickfergus]] Headquarters. The main team had left at 9pm but four members unexpectedly returned 25 minutes later to find the room alight. Neither the [[Smoke detector|smoke alarm]] nor the heat sensors had gone off and the [[telephone line]]s had been cut. They made an attempt to tackle the fire but found that there was no water in the fire protection system.<ref>p4 ''Not for the Faint-Hearted;''</ref>