Billy Wright murder inquiry report due..

[leeside]

A public inquiry into the murder of loyalist paramilitary leader Billy Wright inside the Maze prison 13 years ago will be published later.

The head of the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) was shot by republican prisoners in December 1997 inside one of the world's most secure jails.

His family say he was a victim of collusion between prison authorities, the security services and police.

The four-year inquiry was set up to address those claims.

NI Secretary Owen Paterson is to announce the inquiry's conclusions at Westminster on Tuesday afternoon.

The inquiry was prompted by the findings of retired Canadian judge Peter Cory in 2004.

He said he was satisfied that "there was sufficient evidence of collusive acts by prison authorities to warrant the holding of such an inquiry".

During the inquiry into Wright's killing, it was revealed that there was intelligence information indicating the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) planned to kill Wright if he was transferred from Maghaberry prison to the Maze.

But he was moved in April 1997 and eight months later, he was shot dead.
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Billy Wright was one of the most notorious loyalist paramilitaries in Northern Ireland.

The man nicknamed 'King Rat' - a term coined by journalists on the Sunday World newspaper - waged a bloody and bigoted campaign against the Catholic population in the Portadown and Lurgan area between the mid 1980s and his death in 1997.

He was a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and was arrested on several occasions but never charged.

Eventually he became the UVF's "Mid-Ulster commander" and is thought to have ordered or participated in around 20 killings, most of which were blatantly sectarian.

The IRA and the INLA tried to kill Wright at least five times but he survived and built his reputation among Portadown loyalists.

He was jailed in 1997 for threatening to kill a woman. He was initially sent to Maghaberry prison but later transferred to the Maze where he was shot dead on 27 December 1997 as he was let out to a van for a visit with his girlfriend.

The investigation into his death was established in May 2007 under the chairmanship of Lord Ranald MacLean. The retired judge was one of three who presided over the Lockerbie trial.

Under the terms of reference the panel has to decide firstly whether any act or omission by the prison authorities or other state agencies facilitated Wright's death, or whether attempts were made to do so.

Secondly, it will determine whether any of those acts or omissions were intentional or negligent.

Speaking prior to the publication of the inquiry's findings, Sinn MLA for Upper Bann, John O'Dowd said it was important that an inquiry took place.

"Sinn Fein have always said that all the families in the conflict deserve to know the truth about how their loved ones lost their lives," he said.

"As difficult as that is, even in Billy Wright's case, Billy Wright's father has the right to know how and why Billy Wright met his death."

On the morning of 27 December 1997, Wright was murdered in jail by INLA men, Christopher McWilliams, John Kennaway and another man.

The gunmen got through a hole cut in a fence, ran across the roof of the block and shot Wright as he sat in a van which was due to take him to a visiting area.

In the years following Wright's murder, his father David has campaigned for an investigation into allegations that the state was involved.

The inquiry heard evidence that there was intelligence information indicating Wright was under threat from the INLA.

In April 1997, an MI5 agent inside the INLA told his handler what he knew about a potential attack on Wright.

That information was shared with RUC Special Branch, though they seem not to have shared it with other parts of the police.

Sir John Wheeler was adamant at the inquiry that he was not shown this piece of intelligence.

There is also some doubt about whether the RUC passed on the intelligence to the prison service.

Timeline

Counsel for the Wright family was adamant they did not.

The inquiry also heard evidence outlining flaws in the way the Maze prison was being run at the time.

Prisoners had more freedom than would have been expected in a high security prison, with searches infrequent to non-existent.

Security cameras were not working and the guards in observation towers were frequently stood down.

At the time of Wright's murder, INLA and LVF prisoners were housed in the same block of the prison despite being bitter enemies.

The inquiry also heard that outside observers including the Red Cross and the Official Prison Visitor advised of the dangers of co-locating the LVF and INLA.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-11288944




Apparently, the inquiry has cost 30 million. What a waste of money for such a scummy sectarian cunt. He deserved what he got not an inquiry.

[Wasp]

Ive mixed feelings on this, first like all people who lost loved ones my sympathy goes out to the family but I cannot for the life of me support the millions spent on enquiries, money which would be better spent elsewhere. Over 30 million for this, few hundred million for the BSunday enquiry and to me it was money poorly spent or else enquiries poorly managed. The HET has a budget of around 30 odd million to investigate several thousand deaths so why has so much money been wasted on the above 2 enquiries?

That aside I have always been uncomfortable with the word collusion and the widespread use of the word which can be stretched to cover entire forces. There certainly is some peculiar things that happened but to try and put state collusion or say RUC/MI5 colluded in the murder is both unjust and unfair. If any rogue memebrs did 'collude' and in the right context of the word collude then it is highly unjust to brand the RUC/MI5 as 'colluding' in this murder or anyother for that matter.

[Wasp]

Apparently, the inquiry has cost 30 million. What a waste of money for such a scummy sectarian cunt. He deserved what he got not an inquiry.

Serious question Leeside, is this how you view republican terrorists who were killed or died in the troubles who carried out or ordered or supported the murder and maimings the ira did??

[Jim]

billy wright was one of the very few people whos death was justified, he had the power to ruin all progress to peace. still think it was collusion though.

[leeside]

Sept 14, 2010 21:05:57 GMT Wasp said:

Apparently, the inquiry has cost 30 million. What a waste of money for such a scummy sectarian cunt. He deserved what he got not an inquiry.

Serious question Leeside, is this how you view republican terrorists who were killed or died in the troubles who carried out or ordered or supported the murder and maimings the ira did??

It depends on which republican terrorist you are referring to. What i mean is that i dont think that every member of the IRA was a 'sectarian scummy cunt' as much as i dont believe that every member of the UVF was a 'sectarian scummy cunt'. I believe that there were large numbers of each of those organisations that were sincere in there objectives, however counter productive their actions were, and were not motivated by a sectarian blood lust like Billy Wright was. If the likes of say Dessie O Hare or Dominic McGlinchy, known psychotic killers, had been murdered in prison by loyalists and there was 30 million spent on an inquiry into his/their death(s)... could you imagine the outcry??? Especially considering the reaction of loyalists to the Bloody Sunday inquiry.

He was scum of the highest order and deserved what he got.

[leeside]

Why does Ian Paisley's party show such interest in a mass murderer?



Billy Wright was supported in life and death by Democratic Unionist Party leaders

Billy Wright, the murdered loyalist, pictured at a 1996 rally where he was supported by a leading DUP MP. Photograph: Crispin Rodwell/Rex Features

I'll never forget the first time I met Billy Wright.

I was pulling into the car park of a hotel in Portadown, Co Armagh, when I noticed a man slouched in the driver's seat of a parked car. I peered over and noticed the sinister features of the man known as King Rat.

I thought it would be best not to antagonise Wright, one of Northern Ireland's most brutal sectarian killers. So I approached him, introduced myself as the Times's Belfast correspondent and had a brief conversation.

My encounter with Wright took place on a warm summer's day shortly after the annual showdown between members of the Orange Order and nationalists at nearby Drumcree. He had threatened to spray the police with petrol from a tank which his supporters had driven into the grounds of the church at Drumcree in the back of a JCB digger.

Wright had delivered his message to Unionist leaders who were shaken by the experience. Their fears were understandable. As the leader of the Mid Ulster brigade of the Ulster Volunteer Force Wright had presided over a reign in terror in which many were murdered simply because they were Catholics.

With this in mind, I keep asking myself why members of Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party have taken such a keen interest in Wright before and after he was murdered by the Irish National Liberation Army at the Maze Prison in December 1997.

The DUP's claim that it is wholly committed to peaceful means was stretched somewhat when one of its leading members shared a platform with Wright in September 1996.

The Rev Willie McCrea, then MP for Mid Ulster, said he was simply defending free speech after Wright was told by the Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC) that he would be shot unless he left Northern Ireland within 72 hours. The CLMC feared that his activities were risking a breach of its 1994 ceasefire.

The dogs in the street, as the old saying goes, knew that Wright was a multiple killer. When he was expelled from the UVF he established the Loyalist Volunteer Force. Its rallying cry was a take on Fred Flintstone:

Yabadadoo, any Taig [Catholic] will do.

Nationalist voters punished McCrea by unseating him at the 1997 general election. Moderate nationalists, who normally supported the SDLP, voted tactically for Sinn Fein, handing the seat to Martin McGuinness. The DUP pointed out that McGuinness was a self confessed member of the IRA.

McCrea, now MP for South Antrim, was not in the Commons for this afternoon's statement by Owen Paterson, the Northern Ireland secretary, on the Wright enquiry. But interventions by nationalist and Unionist MPs show that, while McCrea's joint appearance with Wright was a woeful moment in the history of the DUP, political leaders did need to ask searching questions about the killing of Wright.

David Simpson, DUP MP for Upper Bann who represents the Wright family, highlighted the most important issue at the heart of the enquiry: he was killed while in the care of the state. Paying tribute to David Wright, the father of the murdered terrorist who has campaigned for an investigation, Simpson said:

No matter what his son was in for he was the responsibility of Her Majesty's Government and the Prison Service.

[Wasp]

It depends on which republican terrorist you are referring to. What i mean is that i dont think that every member of the IRA was a 'sectarian scummy cunt' as much as i dont believe that every member of the UVF was a 'sectarian scummy cunt'. I believe that there were large numbers of each of those organisations that were sincere in there objectives, however counter productive their actions were, and were not motivated by a sectarian blood lust like Billy Wright was.

It wouldnt be large numbers mate, it would be small numbers. Look at the ira bombs in mainly Protestant towns over the course of the troubles and the ira were no different when it came to sectarian killings than loyalists were. The blatant sectarian attitudes are blatantly obvious in republican terrorists and there supporters and there are decades of proof of this, they are in the majority not the minority and the same goes for their political reps. There certainly were those who were more sectarian than others but sectarian outlook was in the vast majority if not all.
.

[leeside]

It depends on which republican terrorist you are referring to. What i mean is that i dont think that every member of the IRA was a 'sectarian scummy cunt' as much as i dont believe that every member of the UVF was a 'sectarian scummy cunt'. I believe that there were large numbers of each of those organisations that were sincere in there objectives, however counter productive their actions were, and were not motivated by a sectarian blood lust like Billy Wright was.

I disagree. I don't believe it to be that simple. I believe that when the troubles started, the nationalist/catholic community had every right to arm and organise in order to protect themselves. They saw their community being attacked and felt helpless. They certainly didn't get protection from the state. They were on their own. Those who joined at that time were not motivated by a sectarian bloodlust. That does not mean that i believe that the blatantly sectarian attacks committed by republicans throughout the troubles were not committed by sectarian terrorists. However, I most definitely do not believe that all IRA members were as bad as Billy Wright in the sectarian murderer stakes.


BTW, do you believe that the vast majority if not all of loyalist terrorists were sectarian along with their supporters? You're a supporter, aren't you?

Also, what was your attitude towards Billy Wright?

[Wasp]

I disagree. I don't believe it to be that simple. I believe that when the troubles started, the nationalist/catholic community had every right to arm and organize themselves in order to protect themselves. They certainly didn't get protection from the state. They were on their own. Those who joined at that time were not motivated by a sectarian bloodlust.

Not true, remember the tea and buns given to soldiers when they arrived?? Also many from those communities despised the British and the PUL community. You are only telling one half of the story and it is a widely inaccurate half of the story. In 1971/72 when the udr was first formed it was 38% catholic, many of the top RUC positions belonged to catholics so it was hardly as you suggested. But that does not take away from the fact that bothsides were steeped in sectarian hatred before and during the troubles and bothsides used any excuse to use violence. Apart from that lets go right through the troubles, when say ira terrorists left a no warning bomb and the charred remains of a child were removed from the rubble and the same ira continued to carry out such attacks etc then what is your opinion on those that carried out and continued to carry out these attacks?? Do they deserve to be killed?

BTW, do you believe that the vast majority if not all of loyalist terrorists were sectarian along with their supporters? You're a supporter, aren't you?

Never knew I was a supported of loyalist terrorists, working and talking to them as with republicans I have gained a better understanding and even the most moderate of people here will have at least a small amount of sectarian feelings, its the same for you and everyone else with a deep opinion on N.Ireland no matter how much we try to deny it or move ourselves from it. Most if not all of those involved in the terrorist groups and their supporters had sectarian motives of one degree or another. Thats the truth and for anyside to claim otherwise then they are liars. The hatred bred by politicians, teachers, church leaders, youth groups and the terrorist groups themselves made sure people grew up with some level of sectarian bias. Having worked with bothsides it is unbelievable some of the opinions held by oneside towards another and that is in todays N.Ireland.

Also, what was your attitude towards Billy Wright?

I didnt know much about him until the meida stories of King Rat came about and it interested me when I learned that quite a number of lvf members were catholic. While I understand the sentiments from some who say he deserved what he got, I cannot understand those who supported or didnt support ira actions picking and choosing which ira terrorists would have deserved it if they had of been killed. Like those guilty of the Kingsmill diaster, the Enniskillen bombing or numerous other atrocities where they knew what the casualties would include etc, how could they be excluded from deserving to be killed?

[leeside]

Not true, remember the tea and buns given to soldiers when they arrived?? Also many from those communities despised the British and the PUL community. You are only telling one half of the story and it is a widely inaccurate half of the story. In 1971/72 when the udr was first formed it was 38% catholic, many of the top RUC positions belonged to catholics so it was hardly as you suggested. But that does not take away from the fact that bothsides were steeped in sectarian hatred before and during the troubles and bothsides used any excuse to use violence.

Even the british government realised that the stormont government and the RUC could not be trusted in protecting the catholic/nationalist community from loyalist violence. Thats why they sent in the army. The army were welcomed initially by the catholic/nationalist community as we all know. That changed however once the army started getting heavy handed and behaved in a manner that was far from that of impartial peace keepers. Most notorious being the behaviour of the paratroopers.

Yes, many did despise the Unionist community. Im not denying that. To be honest, at that time, i wouldn't blame them. They saw their voting rights gerrymandered out of existence by the ruling Unionist elite in one of the most bizarre forms of 'democracy' in europe at the time. Any attempts to protest this was met with state violence. You can quote figures all you want about the % of UDR men that were catholic in 1972 or how many catholics were in top positions in the RUC. That however does not excuse the fact that RUC and B Specials did not protect the nationalist community from loyalist violence and in many incidents they actually instigated as well as facilitated the violence.

Apart from that lets go right through the troubles, when say ira terrorists left a no warning bomb and the charred remains of a child were removed from the rubble and the same ira continued to carry out such attacks etc then what is your opinion on those that carried out and continued to carry out these attacks?? Do they deserve to be killed?

If a terrorist was guilty of intentionally killing a civilian, especially a child. I certainly wouldn't argue for his right to live. Had he been murdered, I certainly wouldn't cry foul or demand an inquiry.

Never knew I was a supported of loyalist terrorists, working and talking to them as with republicans I have gained a better understanding and even the most moderate of people here will have at least a small amount of sectarian feelings, its the same for you and everyone else with a deep opinion on N.Ireland no matter how much we try to deny it or move ourselves from it.

I noticed that you didn't deny that you were a supporter. In fact, i clearly remember you saying before that you didnt believe that the UVF should dis-arm. That would constitute a form of support in my book.

Most if not all of those involved in the terrorist groups and their supporters had sectarian motives of one degree or another. Thats the truth and for anyside to claim otherwise then they are liars. The hatred bred by politicians, teachers, church leaders, youth groups and the terrorist groups themselves made sure people grew up with some level of sectarian bias. Having worked with bothsides it is unbelievable some of the opinions held by oneside towards another and that is in todays N.Ireland.

Cant argue with most of what you just said there and to be honest, WASP, i dont think we should argue on the semantics of what percentage of republicans or loyalists who joined their respective terrorist groups did so on sectarian or idealogical grounds. Fact is, in the early years, many did have political ideologies.

I didnt know much about him until the meida stories of King Rat came about and it interested me when I learned that quite a number of lvf members were catholic.

Come on, Wasp. Just because it contained members who had a grandparent who was catholic or a parent was catholic or was born a catholic and then converted to protestantism does not absolve an organisation like the LVF of its overt sectarianism. These 'catholics' certainly weren't going to mass on sundays.

While I understand the sentiments from some who say he deserved what he got, I cannot understand those who supported or didnt support ira actions picking and choosing which ira terrorists would have deserved it if they had of been killed. Like those guilty of the Kingsmill diaster, the Enniskillen bombing or numerous other atrocities where they knew what the casualties would include etc, how could they be excluded from deserving to be killed?

So, you dont believe he deserved what he got? You're being guilty of the very same thing you claim others of doing here, WASP. Had those who were guilty of the crimes you listed been shot dead i certainly wouldn't mourn there passing or feel it was undeserved and had an inquiry been set up into their killings i would completely understand the outrage felt by their victims families and the unionist community as a whole.

This thread is about Billy Wright, Wasp. You have not said one single negative thing about him or his cohorts in this whole thread. Instead, all you have done is engaged in whataboutery. Speaks volumes to be honest.

[Wasp]

Even the british government realised that the stormont government and the RUC could not be trusted in protecting the catholic/nationalist community from loyalist violence. Thats why they sent in the army. The army were welcomed initially by the catholic/nationalist community as we all know. That changed however once the army started getting heavy handed and behaved in a manner that was far from that of impartial peace keepers. Most notorious being the behaviour of the paratroopers.

Again out of context, the areas mainly affected were working class loyalist and republican areas where hatred was already in place, I fully acknowledge mistakes made by stormont or the police etc which played right into the hands of those who want trouuble. But I find it sad that you tried to use 40 years ago in justifying ira terrorists not deserving murder. Nothing excuses the 40 years of mayhem our communitiies faced by acts of terrorism.

Yes, many did despise the Unionist community. Im not denying that. To be honest, at that time, i wouldn't blame them. They saw their voting rights gerrymandered out of existence by the ruling Unionist elite in one of the most bizarre forms of 'democracy' in europe at the time.

Again only half the truth here, this voting system affected all working class people, loyalist and republican alike.

Any attempts to protest this was met with state violence. You can quote figures all you want about the % of UDR men that were catholic in 1972 or how many catholics were in top positions in the RUC.

There very well may have been times where a heavy handed approach was made but dont forget the violence that the police faced by some of those protesting, dont forget the hours of stone throwing and petrol bombs at families watching their annual parade in Londonderry before police eventually gave chase.

That however does not excuse the fact that RUC and B Specials did not protect the nationalist community from loyalist violence and in many incidents they actually instigated as well as facilitated the violence.

If there were times that this happened then lets debate them. Also you must take into acount the nationalist violence the police faced at the time when being in these areas, dont forget the sectarian violence shown by republicans before and after partition including the failed border campaign. Any state would be suspicious of a community in an area where support for terrorist activity was high. Also please note many nationalist areas were untouched by secutriy forces as were many Unionist areas during the early troubles, these areas did not have the high numbers of sectarian minded people hell bent on violence.

If a terrorist was guilty of intentionally killing a civilian, especially a child. I certainly wouldn't argue for his right to live. Had he been murdered, I certainly wouldn't cry foul or demand an inquiry.

Planting no warning bombs in crowded towns which were usuall mainly Unionist towns is a willfull act to kill and maim civillians never mind all the other decades of examples that could be given. Your tone over such killers is somewhat different to that of Billy Wright.

I noticed that you didn't deny that you were a supporter. In fact, i clearly remember you saying before that you didnt believe that the UVF should dis-arm. That would constitute a form of support in my book.

My reason for not disarming does not amount to support, it was tactical. If you asked did I support the uvf then my answer is no, but if it was a case of being at least sympathetic to giving the ira some payback then my answer is a definate yes, especially with the uda.

Cant argue with most of what you just said there and to be honest, WASP, i dont think we should argue on the semantics of what percentage of republicans or loyalists who joined their respective terrorist groups did so on sectarian or idealogical grounds. Fact is, in the early years, many did have political ideologies.

Fair enough points, although I would add that many if not all with political ideologies were also sectarian minded.

Come on, Wasp. Just because it contained members who had a grandparent who was catholic or a parent was catholic or was born a catholic and then converted to protestantism does not absolve an organisation like the LVF of its overt sectarianism. These 'catholics' certainly weren't going to mass on sundays.

They were called the catholic volunteer force by locals and it wasnt only because of a grandparent it was because of the members themselves. You do know that a senior member of the uda is a catholic as were a number of members of both the uda and uvf. In Ballymena a member of the travelling community is a member of a loyalist group and is a devout supporter of loyalist thinking of an extreme nature. On the otherside of the coin at least one that I know of that was involved in republican riots isa Prod so not everything is black and white.

So, you dont believe he deserved what he got? You're being guilty of the very same thing you claim others of doing here, WASP.

I never said I didnt, re-read my post, I said I understand the sentiments of those that do. My own view is this, as he was in protective custody he should not have been killed in the way he was killed. That aside if someone takes part in killing people then if you live by the sword you could very well die by the sword.

Had those who were guilty of the crimes you listed been shot dead i certainly wouldn't mourn there passing or feel it was undeserved and had an inquiry been set up into their killings i would completely understand the outrage felt by their victims families and the unionist community as a whole.

Exactly and that is why it is so difficult for the likes of many many people to accept terrorists in government such as McGuiness who were supported by the people who make claim after claim about state violence or heavy handedness while searching a house for weapons etc.

This thread is about Billy Wright, Wasp. You have not said one single negative thing about him or his cohorts in this whole thread. Instead, all you have done is engaged in whataboutery. Speaks volumes to be honest.

Hope my answers have now cleared that up and I fully understand your point but it was not intentional on my side.