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As said in list of contents: “5) A four page document
entitled ‘Mr Metcalfe M’Lud - Reference Stakeknife-Scappaticci.’ With
accompanying half page photocopy from The Sunday Independent, dated 15.08.04.
A one page web print-out on
“From a reading you will gather that the content of
this particular is subject to caveats. I debated if it should be included with
other items, deciding it should even if it is an incomplete study. Alone I am
unable to test its worth or relevance, if any.”
*
(www.stakeknife.eu)
Twitter: @seankellyis
(10)
*
Mr. Metcalfe, M’lud
(Questioning if a British army
provenance is entailed.)
Wednesday 01 September 2004 –
When at Herman-White auction rooms in Rathmines, Dublin saw Alan (a friend)
among cars parked on unpaved ground within the complex, he talking to another
auction regular. I wasn’t going to intrude, but Alan in wordless gesture,
beckoned: “Come and listen to this.”
I did. He and his friend
were discussing “Mr Metcalfe”, someone known to me as “Yorkshire Lad”. A man I
judged to be ex-British army, and hard; someone who could possibly be known
under the pseudonym Martin Ingram. Metcalfe is said to have left Ireland owing
€1m.
He, his Yorkshire wife and
son were based in Loughrea, Co. Galway. It was said he owes money to antique
auctioneers around the country, including Northern Ireland. A Bangor, County
Down auction house was mentioned.
The man speaking to Alan
said he was reckless, and given the prices he was paying, it only needed time
before events caught up with him.
The dogs were barking at his
door, so he did a runner about five weeks ago. Alan’s friend said the man’s
real name was not Metcalfe; he used another name (what name?) when signing cheques to Herman-White.
I asked two questions on
him. 1) Was he ex-army? 2) What age was he? Yes to the former. Fifty to the
latter.
My Interlocutor said, when
at another auction room and in conversation with Metcalfe’s wife, she let it
“slip out” that he had been in the army. Did he know which branch of the army?
No. She just let that “slip out” and said no more.
A recent edition of The Sunday Independent published a story on
him. I told the man it was my belief from sometime back, that Metcalfe was
ex-British army and possibly an Intelligence Corps man.
I tried to do a sus on him a
long time ago, but he wouldn’t play ball. He turned and walked away. I thought
him hard.
I hinted that which is not
known about him might be of far greater worth than that which is known – “and I
am not thinking of money fiddles”. Hinting on, I asked if his employer was the
Ministry of Defence (in Britain).
That was a bit of black humour.
He conned local people where
he lived in the west. He obtained two paintings worth €22,000 each, it was
said, from a top artist. A valuable table and two chairs from another source,
handed over to be sold. Another lot put in for auction by Metcalfe, was
reclaimed by the owner the following day. So it went.
In the months prior to the
publication of the Stakeknife book, Yorkshire Lad was out of Rathmines auction
rooms circulation; at least to my eyes. Was that down to money troubles with
the auction houses or writing the aforementioned book?
That is of course if Mr. Ingram
and Mr. whoever are the same person and an ex-FRU (Force Research Unit) – a
murderous extension of British army intelligence and MI5 in Northern Ireland –
spoofer. It would be remarkable were it so.
Thursday 02 September,
2004 – Found The Sunday Independent
article mentioned above, dated 15 August 2004. It puts Yorkshire Lad’s age at
61. I consider this closer to his real age than the 50 years given by Alan’s
friend. If not 61, say in the late 50’s. Though I say that, the age is not near
compatible with that indicated by Ingram in the Stakeknife book. Having joined
the army aged 19 years in 1980, he would first enlist in the Parachute Regiment
but after ten weeks transferred to an Intelligence Corps training course. His
first Intelligence posting was to Northern Ireland in 1981.
Reflecting on some smart
tricks Ingram is said to have played while on the army intelligence training
course, like breaking into the chief clerk’s desk (P23) and stealing the carbon
copy used in the typing of exam questions, thereby improving his performance
from relegation prospect on past results to near top of the class on the next.
He worked this swiz with a
friend named Kev. It was sure cute hoor stuff for a man of 19 or 20.
So was Ingram’s enlistment
in the army at a later age than said? Was he ex-police or other security
employed before joining up? It wouldn’t have been easy to stroll into the army intelligence corps at such a
young age without supporting attributes and having at least a reasonable
standard of education.
Yet according to him entry
was urged and even facilitated from within. If true, was there a reason for it?
Say by virtue of him having a previous like employment or by having an ex-army
father or other filial connection? Or he being ex-Royal Navy or the Royal
Marines?
My impression of the man is
that he was nothing better than intellectually solid, this based on my reading
of him. World wise, street wise, not academic. Reflecting on that, one must
keep in mind that my appreciation is of the man using the pseudonym Martin
Ingram. Yet remarkably the judgement may be as valid for the man using the
Brian Metcalfe pseudonym.
I make these points to query
if they are the same person.
Thinking back on his wife
and attempting to estimate her age. You know, late forties might not be a bad
bet. And him a few years older? That’s more in line with what the man with Alan
said. The more thought I give to it the less I am inclined to be specific.
Metcalfe had a pushy
meanness in him.
I remember on one occasion
he exited the auction rooms while the bidding in which he was involved was
ongoing. When close to the exit door, through which he continued walking, he
less than half turned and without looking to the auctioneer, who I believe was
David Herman, flung his arm outwards to indicate another bid. It was a hard,
unsmiling, indifferent gesture.
The words hard, mean and
rough mannered well describe him in my understanding. In saying that - given
the people he conned - he obviously had some capacity to charm and was evidently
not without a sense of humour
The published account of the
man is vague and limited, perhaps only to be expected given the nature of the
beast, that one has to be careful in extrapolation.
He was a conman who was
practiced in the art of deception. If we are unsure about this being part of
his job when in the army, if he was so enjoined, we are more assured it was so
inside and outside auction rooms.
So what age do I say
Metcalfe was in 2004? In his 50’s, say early 50’s. Martin Ingram, according to
the Stakeknife book, would have been 43 in 2004. Still an apparent disparity.
The newspaper report says he
may be from Leeds. If my memory is correct, Martin Ingram (in the Stakeknife
book), after his return to England from N.I. in 1984 for compassionate reasons,
had one known posting and a number of secondments. The York Security Section (P24) was the posting. Seconded twice to Repton Manor (in Templar Barracks, Ashford, Kent) in
connection with agents Willie Carlin and Frank Hegarty; and a six months
detachment to Belize (formerly British Honduras) in Central America. On return
to the UK he undertook a FRU handler’s course before being posted to St Angelo,
a FRU base in Co. Fermanagh in late November 1987. A journalist interviewing a
man claiming to be Ingram said he was a Leeds United supporter. In the
Stakeknife book, Ingram’s wife is said to be from the republic of Ireland.
Metcalfe’s wife is, by accent, clearly from Yorkshire: as much a Yorkshire Lass
as he’s a Yorkshire Lad. When they first came on the Rathmines scene, per my
knowing, I spoke to her in the sales rooms yard. To my question she confirmed
she was from Yorkshire. This was maybe autumn 2003. I believe close to that
encounter, say a week or two later, I briefly spoke to him. I was curious and
attempted a sus. He was having none of it and walked off. I considered him to
be ex-British army with a rough professionalism in his manner and bearing. An
Intelligence Corps man? I could easily see him, at his age, a SNCO/WO (senior
non commissioned officer/warrant officer). Was Ingram’s claim to having an
Irish wife a deflection?
The Metcalfe’s are believed
to have done a runner in early July (2004). He was said to have lived in
Ireland for about four years. They are also said to have had a son with them.
No age given. (I believe someone said he was 14 years.)
The Sunday Independent,
15.08.04 – (By Jerome Reilly) “Brian
Metcalfe, 61, though sometimes known as Brian May and thought to be from Leeds,
appeared suddenly in Galway about four years ago opening an auction house in
Loughrea…in the last year he moved to Galway city, opening auction rooms at
Galway Shopping Centre.
“Dozens of friends, clients
and customers, now believe they were conned by Brian Metcalfe, aka Brian May,
who went missing along with his partner and son in early July…”
The Sunday Times,
08.02.04 – (Online. By Liam Clarke.)
“On February 1, 2000, the draft of a memoir [Ingram] was preparing was stolen
from his home in the Irish republic and turned up two weeks later with the MoD
[in London] who used it in a court case against him.”
Note: Stakeknife book
published in spring 2004. An RTE radio pre-book launch interview of Ingram by
Cathal MacCoille took place on Tuesday Morning 17.02.04. Other interviews
followed. To my memory the book only appeared on the shelves from April 2004.
September 2007: I have a
copy of letter to the Bloody Sunday Inquiry from the Ministry of Defence on
Ingram’s service. Forming part of his pre-inquiry statement bundle, it
reiterates the Stakeknife book enlistment year of 1980 and termination of
service in 1991. No indication of age on enlistment or discharge.
*
Addenda:
It is clear that Messrs
Ingram and Metcalfe are distinct entities; for example, there is an
incompatibility of age, and more.
However, there are a number
of areas where they enjoy a surprising degree of compatibility, these prompting
hitherto unspoken questions, some of which are posed in the paragraph
immediately below.
In all CV’s of Martin
Ingram, there is the conspicuous absence of what he was doing and where he was
based between army discharge in 1991 and the birth of Stakeknife, via the good
offices of The Sunday Times, in August 1999. Was he working under cover?
Were Ingram and Metcalfe
co-fraternal in
END
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The Sunday Independent, 15
August 2004. Page 6. |
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Web page. Sorry about
premature cut-off at edge. |
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Previous:
Ian Hurst & Smithwick Tribunal Statement |
Next: Martin
Ingram - Q’s |