Monday, August 28, 2006

"Turned by the Police"

This story appeared on the Chiswick W4 website news section recently:

A former IRA assassin turned supergrass is claiming he had no idea a local pub was predominantly used by the gay community after he was robbed by two men he invited back to the home of a journalist he was house-sitting for.

Sean O'Callaghan had been an active member of the IRA until he was turned by the Irish police and became an informant. He was involved in the killing of a female member of the UDR and an RUC policeman. Unlike other so-called supergrasses he has not remained anonymous and has written a book about his experiences as well as a regular column in the Daily Telegraph.

He was staying in the home of well-known journalist and writer, Ruth Dudley Edwards, on Popes Lane in Ealing. One evening in September of last year he decided to visit the nearby pub, West 5, which has a predominantly gay clientele. 52 year old Mr O'Callaghan claims not to have been aware of the nature of the pub but that he had chosen it because it was the nearest to where he was staying.

He met two men at the pub and later invited them back to his friend's house. Once there they knocked him to the floor and he was threatened with knife and tied up whilst they burgled the house. Among the items stolen were cash, credit cards and Ms. Edward's computer which has not yet been recovered.

The police apprehended and charged Yousef Samham, aged 26, in relation to the incident. He denied the robbery saying that Mr. O'Callaghan had asked to be tied up as part of a bondage session.

Now, this story has quite a few odd and amusing elements to it:
  1. An IRA killer is beaten up by two (presumably) rather camp blokes
  2. Someone thinks "who can I get to house-sit for me?" And settles on an IRA killer as the best option. And he then fails to keep the place safe.
  3. Will these experiences also make it into the Daily Telegraph?
  4. What "experiences" have been omitted from the column so far - both IRA related and post-IRA ..?
  5. What bizzarre sort of bondage session involves theft of IT equipment as part of the, erm, "act"?

..but my clear favourite comes from the juxaposition of implications that Mr O'Callaghan has homosexula tendencies, and the information that he was "turned" by the police...

Good Cop, Camp Cop I presume..?


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