An academic was aghast when her partner was accused of IRA activity. After his trial, he confessed

Mary Attenborough’s nightmare began when the police raided the flat she and Michael Gallagher shared, their memoir reveals, but their relationship prevailed

When police thundered into their London home in 1996 and arrested Michael Gallagher on suspicion of IRA activity, MaryAttenborough was shocked and indignant.

She was an English academic who wrote books on geophysical software and her Scottish partner was a former civil servant who helped homeless alcoholics. The idea of him as an IRA man seemed ludicrous. Gallagher was romantic and cerebral – he had wowed Attenborough by completing the Guardian’s cryptic crossword in three minutes.

Yet he was charged with helping the IRA to launch mortars at Heathrow in 1994, attacks that inflicted no casualties but caused huge disruption. Attenborough mustered funds and support to proclaim her boyfriend’s innocence but Gallagher was convicted of conspiring to cause explosions and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Now, almost three decades later, the two are still a couple and have co-written a book that confirms Gallagher was, in fact, guilty – that he was an IRA fixer who facilitated multiple operations, including the Heathrow attack.