Through a Glass Darkly

Summary of internal report on the incident of the night of January 7^th 2005 on Gallows Hill, North Yorkshire:

8 operatives from the SAS anti-terrorism unit in 4 unmarked vehicles were despatched to apprehend the known terrorist Abu-Sidhu and three other men after tip-offs from GCHQ and the US intelligence services. Under the command of Major Alan Smith, they followed the terrorists from the town of Richmond (where civilian intervention compromised a planned arrest) to a local landmark.

Executive action authorised, the operation was well-planned and flawlessly executed (after securing maverick civilian personnel in the area). However, during the assault, the terrorists unleashed a previously unsuspected bio-chemical weapon. Of the operatives involved, four were killed and one is in an extremely disturbed psychiatric state, probably due to the effects of the bio-weapon. It should be emphasised that the security operatives could have had no way of knowing such a weapon would be deployed.

All but two of the terrorists died in the assault. Only one of the survivors escaped who seems to have been the leader. (We have no record of Al-Sudat, though our American friends say they have heard of him vaguely.) The other was captured and is being interrogated. One civilian was also killed and a second has vanished, possibly an accomplice to the terrorists.

Mr James Elliott alerted the local police, who were on the scene remarkably quickly, within the hour. Trooper Frank Savage alerted his HQ via the team's uplink communications equipment and army security personnel from Catterick, who arrived shortly after the police, and formal security elements established effective control of the area at dawn when the Yorkshire Constabulary were excluded and a formal survey of the scene commenced, the findings as follows…

The bodies of sergeant Ben Cartwright and trooper Owen Thomas were found on the hilltop in a peculiar state, dehydrated to husks, presumably by the chemical/biological agent used by the terrorists. Three of the terrorists, Abu-Sidhu, Ali Rabat and Jhaileesh Alrani, were in the same state, found close together a few yards from the crest of the hill. Also on the hill, Corporal Mike Bramhall's body was found lying between three flat stones; he seems to have shot himself with the last round in his pistol. Although in normal condition, regretfully, his body was damaged by foxes before it could be removed. (It is recommended these facts are kept from his family to avoid exacerbating what must already be for them a very painful experience.)

Parked nearby was a Metro, recently purchased by Ms Karen Doherty (see below), with attached animal trailer, containing dung and hair from a British Alpine goat. The manner of parking indicates that the terrorists envisaged no further use for the vehicle.

Down by the main road, trooper Colin Renfrew's body was lying near that of civilian Dr Myra Patel. He had been shot in the stomach by a single round from an MP5 retrieved from the scene, bearing trooper Harry Wise's fingerprints. The gun was empty. Renfrew's body armour failed to prevent penetration from the close-range shot and he evidently bled to death, suffering complete exsanguination, but his body was otherwise normal. His weapon had fired 6 rounds, none of which have been recovered, indicating they were probably fired in to the air, perhaps in an attempt to ward off agent Wise or one or more civilian prisoners (Connelly?).

Cars Alpha, Charlie, and Delta were all recovered intact. Alpha and Delta on the road either side of the turnoff to the track; Charlie some quarter mile west along the road. Delta had been broken in to and an unsuccessful attempt had been made to hotwire a start. From fingerprint evidence, the culprit would appear to have been Bernard Connelly.

Car Bravo was found on the metalled part of the track, immediately adjacent to the road, severely damaged, having been sprayed liberally with gunfire from trooper Wise's MP5 but also crushed and mangled in collision with the transit van driven by the escaping fifth terrorist, (identified as one Ibrahim Al-Sudat by Sadiq Rabat). The damage was unusually severe for such a collision, evidence of the speed of the transit's descent. The car must have rolled as the roof was torn off, lying in the hedge nearby.

Dr Patel's blood was found in copious quantities on the back seat, indicating she was in the car at the time of collision, having been hit in the upper right arm by a single round from trooper Wise's MP5. Her body was in a similar state to most of the bodies from the hilltop. All dehydrated bodies were identified by DNA analysis. Dr Patel was thrown from the car during the collision but she was undoubtedly dead from shock and blood loss before the collision as there was no sign of bleeding where her body was found. (Please note: Trooper Savage's testimony contradicts this but he was also exposed to the neurotoxic effects of the terrorist agent.)

Over much of the hilltop, all the way down the track, in the ditch along the road at the foot of the hill and in damaged areas of the woods along this path, were found deposits of an unidentified black slime. Deposits were heaviest on the hilltop, on and around the bodies of the terrorists, Cartwright, Thomas, Patel and car Bravo. It seems to have been some chemical or biological agent and must be presumed responsible for the unusual condition of these bodies. Plant life contacted by the slime also showed some symptoms, though not as severe. Samples of the slime were collected but have so far proven unidentifiable.

The substance was evidently released from the transit van, spreading over the area. Extremely volatile, it evaporated quickly during the course of the morning of the 8^th, which would account for it not being observed deeper in the woods as it would have vanished before it could be seen. The conditions of the survivors indicate it must also have neurotoxic properties. The area was cordoned off and thoroughly cleaned by an army NBC detoxification team. There is no longer evidence of contamination and the odour has gone.

Major Alan Smith survived with troopers Frank Savage, Harold Wise and Andrew Price. Smith and Savage are relatively unscathed but Price is deemed in need of protracted leave. Wise was found in an extremely agitated state the afternoon of January 8^th, hiding in a shallow trench he dug himself. He has suffered a complete nervous breakdown and is undergoing intensive therapy. He will probably be invalided out of the service even if he recovers. He will not be facing court martial for the murder of trooper Renfrew as he is deemed to have acted in a state of diminished responsibility under the influence of the hallucinatory neurotoxin.

Please see enclosed debriefs from Smith, Savage and Price interspersed with extracts from the personal diary of James Elliott. The reports of the survivors, even those apparently least affected by the neurotoxin, are incredible, indicating the extreme hallucinatory properties of the neurotoxin in even small doses.

Bernard Connelly has vanished. Agent Frank Savage saw Connelly get in to the transit driven by Al-Sudat (he would have shot him had he had any ammunition in his rifle) – obviously Connelly was in league with Al-Sudat from the first. The transit was recovered from a lay-by on the A66 between Brough and Bowes. Inside was the body of a slaughtered British Alpine goat and evidence that some large object, roughly a yard square, had been removed after being drenched in the blood of the slaughtered animal. The footprints of two men were found in and around the vehicle.

Dr Elisa Jamieson was found the morning of January 8^th, wandering many miles up Swaledale. She was in a daze, suffering from exposure, dehydration and shock, but she is recovering.

Mr Adam Walters was found by his colleague, James Elliott, having fled the scene. He was exhausted and shaken but otherwise unharmed. His account of events is the clearest of all the non-military personnel.

Mr James Elliott was not present at the climax on Gallows Hill, though he observed the events from a couple of miles distance. He has been questioned as to why he thought it necessary to observe at all. Although suspicious, it is thought his actions reveal neither foreknowledge nor malicious intent.

Dr Belinda Durham was with the suspects a few days before but returned to London before this incident. She has been questioned and seems clean.

The body of Ms Karen Doherty (late of Murdoch & Aitcheson Holdings (London) PLC) was found in a rented holiday cottage outside Richmond. She had been tortured and mutilated before being killed by a deep cut to the throat. Autopsy estimated time of death as ten to fourteen days previous but pathology is an inexact science and eyewitness reports establish her as alive up to the afternoon of January 6^th.

She was last seen at her workplace on the afternoon of December 22^nd. It is known that she purchased the Metro P976 NAH from Heron's Second Hand Cars (Darlington) December 24^th (when she was in the company of an unknown middle-aged man), a British Alpine Goat from Manor Home Farm (Sutton Magna) January 4^th and an Iraqi antiquity at Richmond Auctioneers & Valuers Ltd January 6^th. She also visited Ravensworth Hall December 28^th, 29^th and January 3^rd and the Richmond Archaeological Society January 4^th. Forensic evidence found at the cottage show the presence of Ibrahim Al-Sudat at some time over this period and it seems inescapable that he killed her after she had exceeded her utility. It was an intercepted mobile phone call from Ms Doherty to Abu-Sidhu that caused GCHQ to alert Major Smith and it is also possible he killed her in revenge for breaching security.

It seems Bernard Connelly may have been acting in collusion with the terrorists. It is unclear whether James Elliott is also implicated but it is doubtful whether any other surviving civilians involved are connected with Ibrahim Al-Sudat.

One terrorist, Sadiq Rabat, escaped the physical effects of the toxin and was captured. However the toxin has affected his mind badly. He is frankly raving and will need months in a hospital before he can stand trial, when he may almost certainly get off on an insanity plea. However, he's being held in a high-security military hospital and his mental condition is not standing in the way of interrogation. The doctors complain that his treatment by the military is contrary to human rights and that he may never recover if he continues to be maltreated in this way but we are fighting a new kind of war against a very cunning enemy and we cannot let liberalist human rights legislation endanger the British people.

Interrogators think Rabat believed he and his colleagues were to summon an 'Angel of Allah' to avenge Islam on America and Britain. He seems not to have been aware of the biochem weapon and it seems only Al-Sudat knew of it. If Rabat reflects his colleagues, it is likely that none of them realised what was to happen. Rabat raves about 'The Black Goat' and her 'young': "We called, and she sent her son, next time it will be the Mother – Beware the Dark of the Moon!" It may be doubtful if he will recover sufficiently to give more coherent evidence.

In conclusion, it would appear that Ibrahim Al-Sudat, with the likely collusion of Bernard Connelly and with possible assistance from others, lured his colleagues to Gallows Hill under the pretext of a quasi-religious ceremony with the ostensible intent to call an avenging angel of God from Islamic mythology, but with the real intention of using them as guinea-pigs for a previously unknown and extremely dangerous bio-chemical weapon. When our operatives made their presence known, this agent was also turned on them. The random pattern of effect is typical of such weapons, though the intensity and range of symptoms is highly unusual. The agent would seem to have a physical astringent effect and also be an acute neurotoxin. If this agent were to be released in an urban environment, the effects could be incalculable. We would be facing a major incident. Please read the eye-witness reports enclosed.