Supergrass Trial: Robert Stewart “giocava ai videogame” insieme alla polizia

Supergrass ‘played games’ with police

So-called supergrass witness Robert Stewart has revealed he was questioned up to five times a day by police at an undisclosed location.

The 37-year-old, who has implicated 14 others in some of his crimes, was questioned at Belfast Crown Court on Thursday by Arthur Harvey QC for Alex ‘Poco’ Wood, the fifth accused in the dock.

After agreeing to cooperate with the authorities, Robert Stewart and his brother David Ian were taken from prison to an “undisclosed location” for debriefing interviews by detectives.

Mr Harvey revealed that Stewart’s girlfriend was even allowed to visit him at the secret location.

Stewart said it was only “on one occasion for a couple of hours”.

During the week he would be interviewed up to five times a day and at weekends Stewart would watch TV or play games on a console. Then the interviews would begin again on Monday.

Mr Harvey suggested that the police “from another region” kept him company, often playing games with him on the TV.

While Stewart agreed, he claimed: “It’s not exactly home”.

“Well it’s a lot better than you have described to this court,” said Mr Harvey.

The self-confessed loyalist terrorist, who is given breaks throughout the day, complained of being unwell before coming into court.

As with other defence lawyers, Stewart clashed with Mr Harvey, often answering him back, prompting Mr Harvey to ask: “Is it important for you to have the last word?”

“I just like to stick up for myself,” came the reply.

At another stage trial judge Mr Justice Gillen intervened telling the witness to “forget about the comments… just answer the question”.

The lawyer further accused Stewart of having a casual indifference to senseless acts of cruelty, and often his reactions to questions in court were abnormal.

Mr Harvey claimed Stewart constantly sought to justify what he had done and tried to present himself as a victim, often by reference to the accused in the dock.

However, the witness said he always put himself first in any of the incidents.

Stewart was also quizzed about what he had been told about any deal between initially going to police and his debriefing interviews.

“It would have been brought to my attention by my lawyer sometime after I walked into that police station,” claimed Stewart.

But when pressed about any details behind this, Stewart relied on his failing memory, telling the court that he could not really recall what he was thinking at the time.

Mr Justice Gillen intervened in an attempt to clarify matters, asking Stewart was he not thinking, during that period between August and September 2008, about what was going to happen to him.

While he agreed he must have been thinking about something, it was really a matter for his lawyer and: “I don’t think he knew more than me”.

Mr Justice Gillen then suggested that some people might find it odd that, while he remembered he must have thought about it, but did not remember any discussions on the topic.

Stewart said that his solicitor must have told him at some point “this was going to happen, or that was going to happen… It’s just I don’t remember it being discussed”.

The case continues.