The Five Demands

PSNI informers ‘must act within law’ (UTV)
Sinn Fein’s Gerry Kelly says it is vital that the PSNI Chief Constable ensures that agents who are paid by the police operate within the law.
His comments come after it was revealed the PSNI has spent the best part of half a million pounds on informers in the past year.
All police forces need information to fight crime and one of the ways they get it is by paying informers.
Figures obtained by the Belfast Telegraph under a freedom of information request show that in the past financial year the PSNI spent £434,000 on undercover agents.
The amount is over four times what was paid out in 2005/2006, when the total was just over £100,000.
The PSNI will not reveal how many agents they are working with, nor will they say how much individuals are being paid, but the figures show that the daily total for such payments is just under £1,200.
Sinn Féin has expressed concern about the increasing costs and has reservations over how informers were used by the police in the past.
“They have been allowed to break the law and we are not talking about before the Good Friday Agreement,” Gerry Kelly MLA told UTV.
“We are talking about the 1990s when the Mount Vernon group which included a state agent, was involved in everything, including murder.
“That’s what our worry about it is. We have said clearly they should not be allowed to break the law and it is up to the chief constable to ensure that they do not break the law.”
The DUP say the police must be allowed to get on with the job they are paid to do.
David McIlveen MLA said: “I think every western police force uses informers, it is not a new practice and as I say we have to get our focus away from cost – that cannot be allowed to get out of control.
“There has to be a certain degree of accountability there, however, we cannot put a price on a life, we know it is well proven that police informers have saved lives and therefore we would be very supportive.”
The PSNI say they do not comment publicly on intelligence matters.