Gary Smyth (loyalist)

Last updated

Gary Smyth
Born
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Other names"Smickers"
"Chiefo"
OccupationPet shop owner
Organization Ulster Defence Association
Known for Loyalist paramilitary
TitleCommander of C Company
Term-2002
Successor Alan McCullough

Gary Smyth (sometimes written as Gary Smith or Garry Smyth) is a Northern Irish former loyalist paramilitary. Smyth was an active member of the West Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Defence Association during the Troubles. He was known by the nickname "Smickers" throughout his paramilitary career, although he was also sometimes called "Chiefo". [1]

Contents

Early years

A native of Belfast's Shankill Road, David Lister and Hugh Jordan state that Smyth joined the UDA for the first time around 1980 but left again in 1981 after a disagreement with his superiors. William "Bucky" McCullough, a leading figure in the West Belfast Brigade, was killed at his Shankill home by the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) in 1981. In response, Smyth hatched a plan to shoot up a bus stop on the republican Falls Road in retaliation. When the plan was vetoed by Smyth's superiors he left the UDA in disgust at what he perceived to be their inaction. [2]

C Company

At a later unspecified date Smyth, who also ran a pet shop on the Shankill Road, rejoined the UDA as a member of C14, a unit of C Company which was active in the lower Shankill. Smyth's reputation as a ruthless operator brought him to the attention of Johnny Adair, a rising star from C8, and the two became close as Adair rapidly ascended the ranks. [3] In 1990 Smyth was made second in command of C Company and thus deputy to Adair. [4] According to Lister & Jordan Smyth was somewhat older than Adair, being described as "in his thirties" in 1990. [2] However, in 2004 he was described by two separate newspapers as being 38, making him the same age as Adair. [5] [6] In 1990 C Company had come into possession of a rocket-propelled grenade anti-tank weapon and Smyth proved one of the few members of the group to show proficiency with the unusual piece of artillery. As a result, Smyth and fellow C Company member Gary McMaster were chosen on 12 February 1994 to travel to Andersonstown where they fired the weapon at Connolly House, causing extensive damage to the Sinn Féin headquarters. [7]

On 26 October 1993 Smyth was, according to senior UDA sources, one of two gunmen who launched a gun attack on a refuse depot on the nationalist Kennedy Way. Two were killed and five wounded in the attack. [8] He became one of the leading C Company gunmen and was highly prized by Adair, who bought him a car amongst other gifts and took him into HMP Maze in 1994 to show him off to other C Company members who were incarcerated such as "Fat" Jackie Thompson and Sam McCrory. [9] Smyth's high-profile made him a regular target for RUC Special Branch, who hoped that the older man might be persuaded to turn against the younger guns and they paid a number of visits to his pet shop to offer him bribes in return for becoming an agent. Smyth however refused the offers. [10] During this period he was allegedly part of a C Company gang linked to 20 sectarian killings. [11]

Smyth's time as C Company's leading gunman came to an end in 1994 when he was arrested whilst on an assignment. Along with Rab Bradshaw and Richard Calderwood, Smyth had been dispatched to kill republican Brian Gillen and the three met in a safe house provided by South Belfast UDA member Glen Esdale, who joined them on the expedition. However, before they could reach their destination the car was intercepted by police, who had been monitoring their activities throughout, and all four were arrested. At this trial in February 1995 Smyth was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment for conspiracy to commit murder and possession of illegal weapons. [12] By late 1995 there were no fewer than thirteen C Company members, including Adair, in the Maze. [13]

Return to prominence

Smyth would be released from prison long before his sixteen years were up as part of a post-ceasefire prisoner release scheme in 1998. [14] In late 1997 and early 1998 Smyth, along with Stephen "Top Gun" McKeag, was behind a spate of deadly attacks launched by C Company under orders from the imprisoned Adair. The attacks were ordered as retaliation for the killing by the INLA of Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) leader Billy Wright in prison. Adair was seeking to build close links with the hard-line LVF and believed a show of retaliatory strength by Smyth and McKeag would help cement these links. [15] Smyth regularly accompanied Adair, McKeag and Winkie Dodds to the LVF heartland of Portadown to socialise with leading members of the organisation. [16] Smyth emerged as the military leader of the West Belfast Brigade which, although officially on ceasefire, had taken to using the cover name "Red Hand Defenders" to carry on killing. [17]

Smyth had a difficult relationship with McKeag, who had come to C Company later than many of those close to Adair, and was somewhat jealous of "Top Gun's" reputation in wider loyalist circles. In 1999 Smyth, Adair and McKeag attended a loyalist event at the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes on the Corcrain estate in Portadown where McKeag was mobbed by fans from the LVF and on stage was applauded by all except his C Company comrades Adair and Smyth. Smyth continued the resentment a few months later when, as McKeag received a "Volunteer of the Year" prize at the annual ceremony held at the Diamond Jubilee bar on the Shankill Road, he yelled "what about me" from the audience. [18] With Adair in prison and Smyth in temporary command of C Company, McKeag fell out of favour and was soon ordered off the Shankill, ostensibly for becoming involved in fights between women at illegal UDA-run drinking dens on the Shankill. [19]

On 19 August 2000 Adair organised a "loyalist day of culture" on the lower Shankill, inviting the five other UDA brigadiers – Jim Gray (East Belfast), John Gregg (South East Antrim), Jackie McDonald (South Belfast), Billy McFarland (Londonderry and North Antrim) and Jimbo Simpson (North Belfast) – Ulster Democratic Party politicians John White and Frank McCoubrey and Michael Stone to a festival of loyalist marching bands and a show of strength by the West Belfast Brigade. Around 3 p.m. that day the UDA's marching band passed the Rex Bar, a known stronghold of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) on the mid Shankill, where they unfurled the banner of the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), a UVF splinter group that Adair was close to. The LVF man and his supporters were attacked by UVF members although after a brief fight word went down the Shankill and C Company, at the time being led by Smyth, ran up the road to attack the UVF. Although they had by then barricaded themselves inside the Rex Bar a number of UVF members were injured in the attack which Smyth had led from the lower Shankill with the call to arms "C Company, fall in – up that road, now!". [20] Smyth and Mo Courtney soon linked up with the Shoukri brothers, two emerging figures in the North Belfast UDA who backed Adair in his feud with the UVF and one of whom, Andre, Adair would later help take over from Jimbo Simpson as North Belfast Brigadier. [21]

Smyth was present at the Holy Cross dispute in 2001 when a group of loyalist protesters picketed a Catholic primary school in the loyalist Glenbryn/Upper Ardoyne area close to the republican Ardoyne area. As tension heightened Smyth was arrested and found guilty of making a hoax warning call to the police in which he claimed a car bomb had been left outside the school. Smyth made the call on behalf of the "Red Hand Defenders", a cover name used by dissident loyalists who actually belonged to various groups. [22] The Royal Ulster Constabulary had placed bugs in several phone boxes around Glenbryn in the hope of making such a discovery. [23] At this point Smyth had been recognised as leader of C Company but he forfeited the position when he was sent to HMP Maghaberry by then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland John Reid, with command passing to Alan McCullough. [24]

Post-UDA activity

Smyth was still in prison in February 2003 when Adair's supporters were forced out of the Shankill by the mainstream UDA but, having been warned that he would be killed if he returned to west Belfast, he made his way to join the rest of his former comrades in Bolton when he was released from jail soon afterwards. [25] At this point Smyth was widely known, along with Ian Truesdale, as the C Company member with the strongest personal loyalty to Adair. [26]

Smyth left Bolton in 2004 after the gang fell apart and instead he, his girlfriend Sharon and their child moved to Scotland, where Sam McCrory already had close links to local loyalists. [5] Smyth's departure from England had been hastened by a falling out he had with Thompson and his brother-in-law James "Sham" Millar. [27] He briefly returned to Belfast in December 2004 to attend the funeral of his brother Stanley although he was guarded by a heavy police presence throughout his brief stay in the city. [14] In 2009 he was reported by the Daily Record as living in Kilmarnock in a property owned by his friend and convicted tobacco smuggler Tommy Burns. [28]

In 2007 the Sunday Life tabloid reported that former supporters of Smyth were behind the formation of the Real Ulster Freedom Fighters, although it was not claimed that Smyth himself was involved in the group. [29]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny Adair</span> Ulster loyalist

John Adair, better known as Johnny Adair or Mad Dog Adair, is an Ulster loyalist and the former leader of the "C Company", 2nd Battalion Shankill Road, West Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF). This was a cover name used by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), a loyalist paramilitary organisation. In 2002 Adair was expelled from the organisation following a violent internal power struggle. Since 2003, he, his family and a number of supporters have been forced to leave Northern Ireland by the mainstream UDA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ulster Defence Association</span> Ulster loyalist paramilitary group formed in 1971

The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and undertook an armed campaign of almost 24 years as one of the participants of the Troubles. Its declared goal was to defend Ulster Protestant loyalist areas and to combat Irish republicanism, particularly the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). In the 1970s, uniformed UDA members openly patrolled these areas armed with batons and held large marches and rallies. Within the UDA was a group tasked with launching paramilitary attacks; it used the cover name Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) so that the UDA would not be outlawed. The British government proscribed the UFF as a terrorist group in November 1973, but the UDA itself was not proscribed until August 1992.

A loyalist feud refers to any of the sporadic feuds which have erupted almost routinely between Northern Ireland's various loyalist paramilitary groups during and after the ethno-political conflict known as the Troubles broke out in 1969. The feuds have frequently involved problems between and within the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) as well as, later, the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF).

John White is a former leading loyalist in Northern Ireland. He was sometimes known by the nickname 'Coco'. White was a leading figure in the loyalist paramilitary group, the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and, following a prison sentence for murder, entered politics as a central figure in the Ulster Democratic Party (UDP). Always a close ally of Johnny Adair, White was run out of Northern Ireland when Adair fell from grace and is no longer involved in loyalist activism.

Billy "Hutchie" Hutchinson is an Ulster Loyalist politician serving as the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) since 2011. He was elected to Belfast City Council in the 1997 elections. Hutchinson was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast North from 1998 to 2003. He lost his assembly seat in 2003, and his council seat in 2005. He returned to the council in 2014 and was re-elected in 2019. Before this he had been a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and was a founder of their youth wing, the Young Citizen Volunteers (YCV).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Gregg (loyalist)</span>

John Gregg was a senior member of the UDA/UFF loyalist paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland. In 1984, Gregg seriously wounded Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams in an assassination attempt. From the 1990s until he was shot dead in 2003 by rival associates, Gregg served as brigadier of the UDA's South East Antrim Brigade. Widely known as a man with a fearsome reputation, Gregg was considered a "hawk" in some loyalist circles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackie McDonald</span> Northern Irish loyalist (born 1947)

John "Jackie" McDonald is a Northern Irish loyalist and the incumbent Ulster Defence Association (UDA) brigadier for South Belfast, having been promoted to the rank by former UDA commander Andy Tyrie in 1988, following John McMichael's killing by the Provisional IRA in December 1987. He is also a member of the organisation's Inner Council and the spokesman for the Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG), the UDA's political advisory body.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UDA South East Antrim Brigade</span> Paramilitary gang of Northern Island

The UDA South East Antrim Brigade was previously one of the six brigades of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and are heavily involved in the drug trade. It is claimed they control "100%" of an illegal drugs network in south-east Antrim, Northern Ireland. A mural in support of the group lists its areas of activity as being Rathcoole, Rathfern, Monkstown, Glengormley and Whitewell, all of which are part of Newtownabbey, as well as Carrickfergus, the Shore Road, Greenisland, Ballymena, Whitehead, Antrim and Larne. A newer mural in the Cloughfern area of Newtownabbey and flags have updated the areas to include Ballycarry, Ballyclare, the rural hinterland of Ballymena called 'Braidside' and despite not being in County Antrim, the town of Newtownards. The Guardian has identified it as "one of the most dangerous factions". The Irish News described the brigade as 'powerful' and at one time being 'the most bloody and murderous gang operating within the paramilitary organisation'. Since 2007 the South East Antrim Brigade has operated independently of the UDA following a fall-out.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frankie Curry</span>

Frankie Curry was a Northern Irish loyalist who was involved with a number of paramilitary groups during his long career. A critic of the Northern Ireland peace process, Curry was killed during a loyalist feud.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen McKeag</span> Ulster loyalist

Stephen McKeag, nicknamed Top Gun, was a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary and a Commander of the Ulster Defence Association's (UDA) 'C' Company in the 1990s. He is responsible for many killings of Catholics and republicans. Although most of his operations took place from the Shankill Road in Belfast McKeag was actually a native of the lower Oldpark Road in the north of the city.

Alex Kerr was a Northern Irish former loyalist paramilitary. Kerr was a brigadier in the Ulster Defence Association (UDA)'s South Belfast Brigade. He is no longer active in loyalism.

William Samuel "Mo" Courtney is a former Ulster Defence Association (UDA) activist. He was a leading figure in Johnny Adair's C Company, one of the most active sections of the UDA, before later falling out with Adair and serving as West Belfast brigadier.

William McFarland, also known as "the Mexican", is a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary. He was a leading figure in the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), he had served as head of the North Antrim and Londonderry East Tyrone Brigade of the group.

William "Winkie" Dodds is a Northern Irish loyalist activist. He was a leading member of the West Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and for a number of years a close ally of Johnny Adair. Frequently serving as head of the West Belfast Brigade during Adair's spells in prison, Dodds later split from his old friend and is now no longer active in loyalist paramilitarism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crumlin Road</span> Road in Belfast, Northern Ireland

The Crumlin Road is a main road in north-west Belfast, Northern Ireland. The road runs from north of Belfast City Centre for about four miles to the outskirts of the city. It also forms part of the longer A52 road which leads out of Belfast to the town of Crumlin. The lower section of the road houses a number of historic buildings, including the city's former law courts and prison, whilst the road encompasses several large housing areas, including Ardoyne, Ballysillan and Ligoniel(from Irish: Lag an Aoil, meaning hollow of the lime)..

Jim Spence is a Northern Irish former loyalist activist. Spence became notorious for his time in the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), serving two spells in charge of the West Belfast Brigade. Spence is a native of the Woodvale area of Belfast's Shankill Road.

The UDA West Belfast Brigade is the section of the Ulster loyalist paramilitary group, the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), based in the western quarter of Belfast, in the Greater Shankill area. Initially a battalion, the West Belfast Brigade emerged from the local "defence associations" active in the Shankill at the beginning of the Troubles and became the first section to be officially designated as a separate entity within the wider UDA structure. During the 1970s and 1980s the West Belfast Brigade was involved in a series of killings as well as establishing a significant presence as an outlet for racketeering.

James Millar – commonly known as "Sham" – is a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary. Millar was a leading member of the West Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) until 2003 when he was one of a number of dissident members forcibly expelled from the group.

Jackie Mahood is a Northern Irish former loyalist activist with both the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and Progressive Unionist Party (PUP). He later split from these groups and became associated with the breakaway Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), founded in 1996 by Billy Wright.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackie Coulter (loyalist)</span> Loyalist paramilitary member from Belfast, Northern Ireland

Jackie Coulter was a member of a loyalist paramilitary from Belfast, Northern Ireland who held the rank of lieutenant in the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). He was killed by the rival loyalist paramilitary organisation the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), as the result of a feud within loyalism.

References

Notes

  1. ↑ "The downfall of Mad Dog Adair, part 2". 4 October 2003 – via www.theguardian.com.
  2. 1 2 Lister & Jordan, p. 152
  3. ↑ Lister & Jordan, pp. 151–152
  4. ↑ McDonald & Cusack, p. 179
  5. 1 2 "UDA hitman muscles in on Scots drugs racket; Adair lieutenant seeks new patch after failed deal leaves him broke. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com.
  6. ↑ "Newshound: Daily Northern Ireland news catalog - The People article". www.nuzhound.com.
  7. ↑ McDonald & Cusack, p. 254
  8. ↑ Lister & Jordan, pp. 164–166
  9. ↑ Lister & Jordan, p. 208
  10. ↑ Lister & Jordan, p. 198
  11. ↑ King, Sinead (18 April 2004). "Adair's Man Setting Up Drugs Empire; UDA pair to push narcotics from Scotland (News)". The People (London, England).[ dead link ]
  12. ↑ Lister & Jordan, p. 212
  13. ↑ Lister & Jordan, p. 243
  14. 1 2 "Newshound: Daily Northern Ireland news catalog - Irish News article". www.nuzhound.com.
  15. ↑ McDonald & Cusack, pp. 295–296
  16. ↑ Lister & Jordan, p. 287
  17. ↑ Lister & Jordan, p. 275
  18. ↑ McDonald & Cusack, pp. 3–4
  19. ↑ McDonald & Cusack, p. 4
  20. ↑ Lister & Jordan, pp. 288–289
  21. ↑ Lister & Jordan, p. 309
  22. ↑ Wood, p. 272
  23. ↑ McDonald & Cusack, pp. 359–360
  24. ↑ McDonald & Cusack, p. 391
  25. ↑ McDonald & Cusack, p. 397
  26. ↑ Lister & Jordan, p. 338
  27. ↑ "ADAIR'S MAN SETTING UP DRUGS EMPIRE; UDA pair to push narcotics from Scotland. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com.
  28. ↑ "Daily Record & Sunday Mail - Scottish News, Sport, Politics and Celeb gossip". www.dailyrecord.co.uk.
  29. ↑ "Peace process in for a R.U.F.F time". Belfasttelegraph– via www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk.

Bibliography


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.