feeling terrified, alan says he went to his food bank where he was advised to go to the police. the police came around, took a statement. they were going to follow it up with cctv in the area to see if they could see the car in the area. but before the police came back, alan says he was advised by friends that local paramilitaries were best placed to sort out his problem, particularly since the loan sharks had been identified as coming from outside the community. he says he was told that intermediaries could speak with local paramilitiaries on his behalf. somebody was coming into their area that was lending money not them. so basically this was the paramilitaries defending their patch? their patch, yes.
because i was petrified. but when i handed that over he told me i owed them £1,300 because i had borrowed the money for a month. and they said it was the interest, so it was. so who can help? prosecution of money lenders is extremely difficult, and there s little sign that the executive s attempts to tackle the problem is changing things. frontline community groups we ve spoken to in recent months say they feel like they re operating in a vacuum, and that means they have to step in to help victims in spiralling debt and fear of violence by mediating on their behalf with the paramilitaries. east belfast mission is dealing directly with victims of paramilitary loan sharks.
she had no idea the money came from loyalist pa ramilitaries. clergyman brian anderson runs services to help people like jane, in loyalist communities including those on benefits. people are struggling to make ends meet. i would notice particularly that the benefits that would last a fortnight, is now only lasting a week to ten days. and we will help them with food with gas and electricity and we ll do all we can to provide places where you can come and be warm and spend time with us. but that s utter pressure. that s a mental pressure to live with day in day out. within three weeks, jane says she was forced to hand over her benefits to the paramilitaries. they were there outside the post office waiting for me until i collected the money
she wanted to know who d sorted it. i said i ve been told its sorted, and keep my mouth shut and not say anything. she said, oh. she got up, she says, thanks for everything. i hope everything s sorted out. and away she went. they were willing to help, so they were, but it had been taken out of their hands by the paramilitaries. i can understand your victim s concern for his safety and that of his family, and wanting to get the matter dealt with, but. and he did the right thing in reporting the matter to the police, absolutely. i would encourage anybody to come forward. but by engaging in that type of arrangement, what you are doing is perpetuating the coercive control that these paramilitary organised crime groups have on our community. you re allowing it to perpetuate, the problem. it s not as if the police
that s my understanding of how it works. it wasn t police action that resolved the debt. in this case it was intermediaries on the ground negotiating with the paramilitaries. we stepped in, and through intermediaries got it sorted, and the original sum of money was returned and the person got their freezer. what would happen if those people didn t act as intermediaries? they are going to end up in criminality. what would you say to those people who would say there are no circumstances that would justify negotiating with paramilitaries, or those operating under the banner of paramilitaries? it s very easy to have your principle from a distance. but this is the practicalities, this is real life. so you can t abandon someone who has the risk of a criminal record only for wanting a freezer in their home.