UDA collusion row agent Nelson dies

A British agent at the centre of alleged security force collusion with loyalist paramilitary killers in Northern Ireland has died, it has been revealed.

Brian Nelson was a former Ulster Defence Association head of information recruited by military intelligence at the height of the Troubles.

One of the targets for assassination he compiled a dossier on was Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane, who was shot dead by UDA gunmen in February 1989.

But as Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens prepares to publish a major new report on the killing and claims of police and army conspiracy with loyalists, it emerged that Nelson died yesterday of natural causes.

Friends and security sources confirmed the ex-soldier, who was living at a secret location in England, suffered a heart attack two weeks ago.

"He then had a massive brain haemorrhage yesterday and that was it," one said.

Nelson had been handled by a shadowy Army agency known as the Force Research Unit (FRU) which was involved in gathering intelligence from loyalists.

The plan was to use him to prevent the UDA from murdering ordinary Catholics and concentrate on targeting known republicans.

But allegations persist that some warnings Nelson passed on to his handlers were ignored.

He insisted his security force bosses knew the UDA had asked him to compile information on Mr Finucane. These claims are at the heart of Sir John's latest investigation into collusion claims.

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