| Hateland -
Articles |
06/07/00
- How this man, writing from his city home, helped jail
evil nail bomber
The Evening Telegraph
BERNARD O'Mahoney was the focal point of a week of features
in The Evening Telegraph talking about his life as a gangster.
Features editor PETER ROOK reveals how the ex-criminal
has turned crimefighter, helping to snare one of Britain's
most notorious criminals.
EVIL nailbomber Dave Copeland has a lot of time on his
hands to contemplate how he was duped into admitting he
was not mad. He has a lot of time to contemplate how he
was tricked into thinking he was writing to a lonely secretary
by the name of Patsy Scanlon, who was in fact a former
burly bouncer and ex-gangster by the name of Bernard O'Mahoney
Posing as Patsy.
O'Mahoney, from his home in Stanground, Peterborough,
helped convict Copeland. "Patsy" wrote to Copeland
and struck up a friendship and correspondence shortly
after his arrest. The Old Bailey heard how the letters
between Copeland and Patsy continued for a year. Copeland
fell in love with Patsy and would write openly to her.
Copeland said he could not wait for her to visit him in
Broadmoor Hospital He wrote: "You're the only girl
I write to, so you have no need to be jealous." Unknown
to Copeland he was writing to O'Mahoney The letters were
used as damning evidence against him. O'Mahoney said:
"On at least two occasions the Anti Terrorist Squad
came to visit me. They knew I was writing to Copeland
and they had no problem with it whatsoever."
He handed over the letters to the police and they also
filled two pages of a national newspaper on Saturday.
O'Mahoney insists he did not make a penny when the revelations
appeared in the paper. He said: "I saw some of the
photos that were taken of people injured in the nail bombings.
They were absolutely horrific."
He added: "I have always had a deep, deep loathing
for paedophiles and child killers. In my opinion, anything
you can do to bring people like them to justice justifies
the means." It would explain why he also helped trap
evil Richard Blenkey in an identical ruse.
Blenkey brutally murdered seven-year-old Paul Pearson,
but refused to admit his guilt until father-of-two O'Mahoney
laid his trap. O'Mahoney had turned detective and pretended
to befriend Blenkey while he was awaiting trial. Blenkey
dramatically changed his plea to guilty after O'Mahoney
coaxed him into a confession by exchanging letters with
him for 14 months.
O'Mahoney said: "Paul suffered an horrific death
and I was so pleased when I got Blenkey to confess. I
knew Blenkey was guilty. I wanted him to crack. He's an
evil man. I was aware of that from his first letters."
He handed over nearly 50 letters from Blenkey to police.
O'Mahoney said: "As far as I'm concerned anyone who
kills a child is public enemy number one." One of
his most satisfying success stories was the snaring of
child killer Tony Armstrong. Armstrong had planned to
fake madness in a bid to avoid a murder conviction.
The pervert had at first denied killing three-year-old
Rosie Palmer, claiming someone dumped her body in his
flat in Hartlepool, Cleveland. The little girl was snatched
by Armstrong when she went out to get an ice cream. He
then raped and killed her. Armstrong poured out his heart
to O'Mahoney in 60 letters.
"It didn't take long to get him to confess,"
said O'Mahoney. He is adamant he does not to do it for
profit and said he is considering legal action over an
article written about him in a national newspaper which
claimed he just did it for the money On Sunday, The Observer
newspaper ran an article claiming that O'Mahoney was the
"Judas of Fleet Street".
The article claimed that O'Mahoney received tens of thousands
of pounds from selling his revelations about nail bomber
Dave Copeland and child killers to the national tabloids.
"I'm in talks with my solicitor about whether we
are going to sue them, "he said. "Because I'm
a former gangster, they think they can say what they like
about me."
He continued: "I am going to write a book about child
killers in their own words. I have been involved in cases
with disturbing similarities. "But I will do it for
non-profit. There is an organisation called Parents for
Murdered Children and I want to the money to go to them.
I feel that my greatest moment was when the parents of
Paul Pearson said that the letters gave them some comfort
knowing that they had trapped Blenkey" |
| Contact : bernard.omahoney@bernardomahoney.com |
|
|
|
