Kerr was born in Aberdeen. His military career began when he was commissioned into the
Gordon Highlanders on a Special Regular Commission shortly after leaving university in 1970. He served in Cyprus before his first posting to Northern Ireland in 1972, where he worked as an undercover
intelligence officer. Between 1972 and 1987 he worked in a variety of posts related to
army intelligence in Northern Ireland, Berlin, and at army training centres in the United Kingdom. in 1987, he became head of the
Force Research Unit (FRU), a military intelligence unit that ran agents in both
Irish republican and
Ulster loyalist paramilitary groups. Much controversy stemmed from the amount of military intelligence the FRU gave to the loyalist groups. and awarded a
Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in 1996. In October 1997, Kerr was appointed as defence attaché to Beijing. While he was there, his name was published by the
Sunday Herald as a consequence of the investigation into the FRU by the
Stevens Inquiry.
Sir Hugh Orde, former
PSNI Chief Constable, said Kerr, as former head of the Force Research Unit, should have been put on trial. ==See also==