Republican claims security services threw bundle of money and phone number in car in informer recruitment attempt

The man, who has asked not to be named, claimed he was driving in the Rossnagalliagh area with his children in his car on Tuesday, November 15, when he was stopped by an unmarked vehicle from which two men approached him.

The man, a former member of Saoradh, said the men did not identify themselves but were wearing dark coats with ‘police’ emblazoned on them.

He claimed that the men addressed him by his name, spoke of his personal circumstances and recent movements and said they were ‘looking for a quick chat’.

The man said he made it clear he did not wish to engage with the men but claimed that as he was checking on his children one of the men opened the boot of his car and ‘left a bundle of money and a phone number’.

The man told the ‘Journal’ he handed over the money to a community worker in the city so that it could be donated to charity.

The ‘Journal’ put the man’s claims to the PSNI.

A spokesperson said: “We do not comment on intelligence matters and no inference should be drawn from this.”

The Home Office – which deals with queries relating to Mi5, the British domestic intelligence agency - declined to comment.

Saoradh representative, Paddy Gallagher claimed: “These approaches and attempts to recruit by British Military intelligence will continue to fail.”

Concern at high use of anti-terror powers in Derry/Strabane with 2,245 stop and searches in just two years