John Gregg. SouthEast Antrim UDA crime boss Gary Fisher is facing an internal revolt with even his closest lieutenants saying his time is up. [5] The Guardian has identified it as "one of the most dangerous factions". [25], By September 2002, Adair had even circulated stories to contacts in the media that Gregg was under death threat from the UDA. The new Irish Sea Border: What does it mean? Browns_right_foot 3 mo. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Scuba Certification; Private Scuba Lessons; Scuba Refresher for Certified Divers; Try Scuba Diving; Enriched Air Diver (Nitrox) [31] Gregg was back in command by October, at which point he was one of the brigadiers who passed the resolution expelling Adair from the UDA for his involvement in the attempted murder of Jim Gray.[32]. The deposed brigadier's ex-2IC is also facing major money worries having been fined 20,000 by the UVF. [26], Adair ignored the expulsion, erecting "West Belfast UDA - Business as Usual" banners on the Shankill Road, whilst continuing his struggles with the remaining brigadiers, Gregg in particular. But South East Antrim UDA boss Gary Fisher refused to sanction an attack on the UVF man, further weakening his standing with rank-and-file members within his own terror group. A DEPOSED UVF boss is suspected of stealing more than 250,000 from the terror gang over the past five years. Under Fisher, the South East Antrim Brigade became close to the Shoukri brothers, who commanded the neighbouring North Belfast Brigade before being expelled from the UDA in June 2006. A mural in support of the group lists its areas of activity as being Rathcoole (the mural's location), Rathfern, Monkstown, Glengormley . [44] In 2010, the Independent Monitoring Commission confirmed that the split between the Fisher faction of the brigade and the wider UDA had not ended. [29] In response, graffiti appeared around the walls of Rathcoole in December, stating: "Daft Dog and White beware. A taxi driver by trade, he was lured to a meeting in the Monkstown estate in Newtownabbey by his supposed best friend - the former UVF commander in Mount Vernon - who was also expelled. Senior members of the Ulster Volunteer Force and Red Hand Commando also attended. [5], Gregg was sentenced to 18 years in prison; however, he only served nine years before he was released in 1993. Will the Windsor Framework be enough for the DUP? Carrickfergus is a town that once inspired a classic Irish folk song about longing. [34], Gregg was given a paramilitary funeral which was attended by thousands of mourners, including senior UDA members Jackie McDonald, Jim Gray, Sammy Duddy and Michael Stone. His plan to flee to Scotland has also been put on hold after loyalists there were warned not to harbour him. A bomb attack on Adairs house on 8 January 2003 was blamed on Gregg by White, although Adair himself was returned to prison two days later after a dossier detailing his drug-dealing and racketeering activities was shown to Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Paul Murphy. often in the company of Michael Stone, and had even picked up a conviction for violence at an Old Firm match. What makes a serial killer and why are we fascinated by them? [11], As brigadier Joe English enjoyed, theoretically, more power than his predecessor, as Andy Tyrie had been removed from the UDA leadership and replaced by a collective leadership of the movement's six brigadiers, including English. And until he was deposed, he was known for "telling tales" to the UVF's South East Antrim brigadier Den Elliott who was stood down last year for allegedly running unsanctioned rackets. ago. MEDIA SCRUTINY: Press coverage is heaping pressure on Gary Fisher. By September 2002, Adair had even circulated stories to contacts in the media that Gregg was under death threat from the UDA. Now, the UDA has imploded to such an extent that its west Belfast brigade, run by the re-imprisoned renegade Adair, is accused of murdering south-east Antrim brigadier, John "Grug" Gregg, while . Brawls between the two had been frequent and tensions had been growing between the UDA and UVF leading to a drink-fuelled pitched battle between the two groups at the train station. id="addMyFavs"> From the 1990s until his shooting death in 2003 by rival associates, Gregg served as brigadier of the UDA's South East Antrim Brigade. The main target proved to be Danny OConnor, a Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) representative on initially Larne Borough Council and then the Northern Ireland Assembly, whose home and office were attacked at least twelve times by Greggs men between 2000 and 2002. [4] Gregg, at the time the head of the UDA group in Rathcoole, was in charge of a three-man hit team that pulled up alongside Adams' car near Belfast City Hall and opened fire injuring Adams and his three fellow passengers, who nonetheless escaped to seek treatment at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. Gregg was also characterised as a bully, a racketeer, and a sectarian bigot who took particular delight in carrying out vicious punishment attacks and randomly targeting Roman Catholics.. The organisation is now in the grip of a committee of senior paramilitary veterans with Fisher forced to toe the line. A man described in court as the commander of the UDA in South East Antrim is one of four men charged with conspiring to supply cocaine. The deal was discussed at a February meeting in London at the home of the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. Fisher associates subjected Simms to a punishment shooting after he was found with his hands in the till. [31] Carson was described by UDA sources as a "dear friend" of Gregg's and a junior member of the South-East Antrim Brigade. In October 2002, Gregg was one of the brigadiers who passed the resolution expelling Adair from the UDA for his involvement in the non-fatal shooting of Jim Gray. Gregg was given a paramilitary funeral which was attended by thousands of mourners, including senior UDA members Jackie McDonald, Jim Gray, Sammy Duddy and Michael Stone. New IRA powerbase just 20 miles away so why didnt intelligence flag possible attack? [65], On 25 November 2020 the Belfast Telegraph reported that the South East Antrim UDA had passed on a threat against one of their journalists. [10] He called on the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to establish an auxiliary police "clinic" on the estate, which had no permanent police building, so that locals concerned about crime could have somewhere to go. He told them they had to pay money - ranging from 5,000 right up to 20,000 - to be allowed to stay in the area and avoid a UVF punishment attack. [19], In late 2001, Gregg's reign of terror in Rathcoole, where drug dealing, knee-capping and savage beatings were the norm, was challenged by local British Labour Party Councillor Mark Langhammer, who also objected to Gregg's close links to neo-Nazi groups in Great Britain. In late August 1997 this band was one of a number of similar flute bands to travel to Derry for the annual Apprentice Boys of Derry march through the city centre. Gary Fisher became brigadier following the murder in 2003 of his predecessor John 'Grug' Gregg, but he is known to be looking for a way out of the organisation. Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association, Statistical breakdown of deaths in the Troubles of Northern Ireland 1969 2001, Irish National Liberation Army ( I.N.L.A ), Irish Republican Army. "But Gary Fisher doesn't want the hassle of sanctioning something against him. [11] In late August 1997 this band was one of a number of similar flute bands to travel to Derry for the annual Apprentice Boys of Derry march through the city centre. Intense police pressure is forcing South East Antrim UDA mob boss Gary Fisher to gradually withdraw from his leadership role. These were carried out under the Red Hand Defenders cover name, with some attacks also blamed on the Orange Volunteers who were active in similar attacks at the time. A UDA/UFF South-East Antrim Brigade mural in Newtownabbey. Much of this activity was inspired by Gregg's personal hatred of Catholics. He sought to portray Gregg as unstable and thuggish and spread a rumour that he was about to be replaced as brigadier. Watch: Peter Crouch sings the Fields of Athenry with Liverpool fans in Dublin pub, We need government and we need it now Mary Lou McDonald. [59], On 3 January 2019 police reported a baby in a pram narrowly escaped injury after homes were attacked in Co Down by South East Antrim UDA members. [39] A new interim leadership was appointed in their stead although the brigade effectively divided between those who supported the wider UDA leadership and those who remained loyal to Fisher. [6] His deputy Rab Carson was killed in the same attack, with both men having just returned from Scotland where they were attending a Rangers F.C. Gregg served as brigadier of the UDA's South East Antrim Brigade. Cloughfern Young Conquerors, a flute band attached to the brigade, had been to Derry for the annual Apprentice Boys of Derry march through the city centre when at the train station they met members of the Shankill Protestant Boys, a UVF-affiliated band. [49] The targets of the attack were reported locally as being two brothers who had been involved in a scuffle with three UDA members the night before. Many of them were innocent - but had to pay up anyway. South East Antrim brigade Den' Allo Allo' Elliott. Close pal Clifford 'Trigger' Irons is currently out on bail awaiting trial on drugs charges. Gregg initially remained aloof from the struggle and instead concentrated on his anti-Catholic campaign. In a move that was not universally popular in the region, Fisher allowed the Shoukris and their ally Alan McClean to live under South East Antrim Brigade protection and even attend meetings of the brigade's commanders. The gang's boss in the Mount Vernon estate in north Belfast was another expelled. Wikizero - Ulster Volunteer Force . Money drives the South East Antrim UDA's criminal interests, made off the backs of communities who are ruthlessly subjected to a code of silence. South East Antrim UDA crime boss Gary Fisher is facing an internal revolt with even his closest lieutenants saying his time is up. "These people are completely ruthless, I believe that it would put my life in danger," he said. He moved from the SEA power base in the Rathcoole estate to the sleepy backwater of Greenisland as his grip on SEA weakened. "They'll let Fisher take the fall before replacing him, they don't see any point in putting someone else in now only for him to be targeted.". Harry and Meghan told to 'vacate' Frogmore Cottage, Explosive found in check-in luggage at US airport, Whiskey fungus forces Jack Daniels to stop construction, Rare Jurassic-era bug found at Arkansas Walmart, UN to ignore remarks of India guru's fictional country, India court panel to probe Adani fraud allegations. 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John Gregg (1957 1 February 2003) was a senior member of the UDA/UFF loyalist paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland. The internal clean-up of the UVF's South East Antrim unit came after its leaders promised to morph into an old boys organisation during a meeting with senior government officials. And some of them think the UVF tout should be made to pay with his life but were told they couldn't by already under-fire SEA leader Fisher. [23] As a result of the attack, three Woodvale UDA members went to Gregg and complained about the attack. Ann Ogilbys brutal murder: Forgotten victims of the Troubles, Kriss Donald The Brutal Racist Killing of an Innocent Schoolboy. "It is notoriously difficult to leave," a senior loyalist source told us. He's crossed a line and there are figures in the UDA who won't forget.". [3], Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association, "BBC NEWS | Programmes | Panorama | John "Grug" Gregg", "Loyalists on brink of war as UDA chief is shot dead | UK news", "Assassin is kicked out of top UDA post | UK news", "Retaliation inevitable - Just a matter of when", "UDA leaders son gets record payout UTV News", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Gregg_(loyalist)&oldid=1118219468, This page was last edited on 25 October 2022, at 19:42. Golden Brown The Stranglers: Iconic Songs & the story behind them. Under Gregg, the South East Antrim Brigade was linked to the killing of UVF member Mark Quail during Adair's feud with the UVF in 2000[25][26] although according to the BBC the killing was not directly connected to Adair's issues with the UVF but rather stemmed from a pub dispute in north Belfast between members of the two paramilitary groups. Both men, who lived on Ferris Avenue, had their houses burnt out during the attack. . Saturday, 28 January 2023 ePaper fifty skinheads appeared from nowhere, many of them wearing Chelsea and Rangers football scarves and covered in Loyalist and swastika tattoos. [69] [8] Under Gregg the South-East Antrim Brigade were prepared to ignore the terms of the loyalist ceasefire, such as on 25 April 1997 when he dispatched a five-man team to Carrickfergus to set fire to a Catholic church in retaliation for a similar attack on a Protestant church in East Belfast (this earlier attack had actually been organised by dissident loyalists seeking to provoke the UDA into returning to violence). Adams was hit five times in the attack but the taxi rushed to the Royal Victoria Hospital where he received treatment and survived. Old tensions resurfaced however, and after Adair's men fought with UVF supporters at the Shankill's Rex Bar, Adair launched a pogrom of the lower Shankill, forcing out all UVF members and their families and initiating a loyalist feud. However in the second half of 2002 he was dragged into the conflict after Adair made him a target in his own attempts to take full control of the UDA. 25.03753 121.56381. "But he's only delaying the inevitable and will eventually have to account for the 250,000 that's disappeared.". Brawls between the two had been frequent and tensions had been growing between the UDA and UVF leading to a drink-fuelled pitched battle between the two groups at the train station. Members of this brigade were believed to be behind the killings of Catholic postman Danny McColgan, Protestant teenager Gavin Brett and Trevor Lowry (the latter kicked to death in the mistaken belief he was a Catholic), and a spate of pipe bomb attacks on the homes of Catholics. A volley of shots was fired over his coffin by UDA gunmen outside his Rathcoole home. Also his appearance at a Remembrance Sunday service two weeks ago has left those close to him in shock. 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