R v Haggarty (Gary)
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Colton J |
| Neutral Citation | [2018] NICC 1 |
| Date | 29 January 2018 |
| Court | Crown Court (Northern Ireland) |
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Neutral Citation No: [2018] NICC 1
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down
(subject to editorial corrections)*
Ref: COL10515
Delivered: 29/01/2018
IN THE CROWN COURT SITTING AT BELFAST
_________
R
v
GARY HAGGARTY
_________
Sentencing Remarks
_________
COLTON J
Introduction
[1] On 25 August 2009 the defendant was arrested by arrangement, interviewed
and charged in connection with the murder of John Harbinson. He had been invited
to consider providing assistance at a previous meeting he attended with members of
HET and the Security Service. After he had been charged, the defendant indicated a
willingness to assist the authorities within the framework provided by the
Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (“SOCPA”). In particular, Sections 73
to 75 placed on a statutory footing the practice whereby defendants who have
pleaded guilty to criminal charges and provided information and assistance to the
police received discounting in their sentences. By virtue of Section 73, a defendant
who has pleaded guilty and, pursuant to a written agreement with a specified
prosecutor, provided or offered to provide assistance to an investigator or
prosecutor will be eligible to receive a reduction in sentence. Before any agreement
was formalised with the defendant, police conducted a number of “scoping
interviews” to examine the nature and extent of the assistance that he could provide
and to form the decision as to whether he was a suitable person to be offered a
SOCPA agreement.
[2] There were 21 interviews under caution between 5 and 9 October 2009.
[3] On 13 January 2010 the defendant entered into an agreement with a Specified
Prosecutor pursuant to Section 73 of SOCPA. The agreement requires that the
defendant:
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(a) Admit fully and give a truthful account of his own involvement in, and
knowledge of, criminal conduct;
(b) Plead guilty in court to such criminal offences which he admitted and
which the prosecutor would determine he would be charged with;
(c) Give a truthful account of the identities and activities of all others
involved in that criminal conduct;
(d) Give truthful evidence in any court proceedings arising from the
prosecution of any offences disclosed.
[4] He was interviewed over two years by officers from the Police Service of
Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (PONI).
[5] In the course of those interviews he has implicated himself in multiple
offences of the most serious kind over a 16 year period between 1991 and 2007. As is
reflected in the counts to which he has pleaded guilty, throughout that period the
defendant was a member of the UVF rising to the “rank” of “Provost Marshal”. As a
consequence he was deeply involved in terrorist crime. He engaged in the full ambit
of associated crime, involving intimidation, extortion, possession of arms and
ammunition and the infliction of serious violence including murder.
[6] As a result of those admissions the defendant was charged with a total of
202 offences.
[7] The prosecution did not proceed with two of the counts (the original Counts
168 and 169), both of which alleged conspiracy to murder.
[8] The defendant pleaded guilty to the remaining 200 offences upon
arraignment, save for count 68 which was not proceeded with by the prosecution.
The offences can be summarised as follows:
Summary of offences
• Five counts of murder, contrary to Common Law.
• Five counts of attempted murder, contrary to Article 3(1) of the Criminal
Attempts and Conspiracy (Northern Ireland) Order 1983 and Common Law.
• One count of aiding and abetting murder, contrary to Common Law.
• Twenty three counts of conspiracy to murder, contrary to Article 9(1) of the
Criminal Attempts and Conspiracy (Northern Ireland) Order 1983 and
Common Law.
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• Four counts of Kidnapping, contrary to Common Law.
• Six counts of False Imprisonment, contrary to Common Law.
• Five counts of Hijacking, contrary to section 2(1)(a) of the Criminal
Jurisdiction Act 1975.
• Forty seven counts of Possession of firearms and ammunition with intent,
contrary to Article 17 of the Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 1981.
• Nineteen counts of possession of firearms and ammunition with intent,
contrary to Article 58(1) of the Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 2004.
• One count of carrying an imitation firearm with criminal intent, contrary to
Article 19(1) of the Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 1981.
• One count of possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of
violence, contrary to Article 17A of the Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order
1981.
• One count of conspiracy to possess firearms with intent, contrary to Article
9(1) of the Criminal Attempts and Conspiracy (Northern Ireland) Order 1983
and Article 17 of the Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 1981.
• Two counts of conspiracy to possess firearms with intent, contrary to Article
9(1) of the Criminal Attempts and Conspiracy (Northern Ireland) Order 1983
and Article 58(1) of the Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 2004.
• Nine counts of possession of explosives with intent, contrary to section 3(1)(b)
of the Explosive Substances Act 1883.
• One count of possession of explosives under suspicious circumstances,
contrary to section 4(1) of the Explosive Substances Act 1883.
• One count of making explosives, contrary to section 3(1)(b) of the Explosive
Substances Act 1883.
• Five counts of membership of a proscribed organisation, namely, the UVF, as
specified at count numbers 6-10.
• Four counts of directing terrorism as specified at counts 11-14.
• Seven counts of possession of articles for use in terrorism, contrary to section
57(1) of the Terrorism Act 2000.
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1 books & journal articles
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Recognising the Role of the Emotion of Fear in Offences and Defences
...or in the definition of terrorism, Terrorism Act 2000 s 1, or s40 interpretation.49. R v Barot [2007] EWCA Crim 1119.50. R v Haggarty [2018] NICC 1.51. Possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, contrary to art 17A of the Firearms (Northern Ireland)Order 1981.......