Two days before, Jackson and Somerville had carried out a bomb and gun attack at McGleenan's pub in Armagh, killing its owner Jack McGleenan and customers Patrick Hughes and Thomas Morris. [19], In 1994, Eric Smyth, a former UDR member and the husband of Brian McCoy's sister, Sheila, was killed by the IRA. "Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights, Sub-Committee on the Barron Report", "The Miami Showband Massacre, 1975: A Survivor's Search for the Truth", "Miami Showband Massacre: Involvement of UVF Man Robin Jackson". Maguire recalled that the car first slowed down, then it accelerated, flashing its lights. After meeting a new woman, Somerville settled on the Shankill and for a while he worked in the Harland and Wolff shipyard. Assuming it was a legitimate checkpoint, McCoy informed the others inside the minibus of a military checkpoint up ahead and pulled in at the lay-by as directed by the armed men. [55] Robin Jackson died of cancer on 30 May 1998, aged 49. "IRA 'responsible' for killings blamed on loyalists", "Decision as to the admissibility of Application no. They had killed many Catholics together and they trusted each other implicitly," said our source. How are things? I only came into it because of my UDR connection and the fact that I had a uniform. [99], The findings noted in the report confirmed Mid-Ulster UVF leader Robin Jackson's involvement and identified him as an RUC Special Branch agent. Abe Reles, 1941 Place: Half Moon Hotel, Coney Island Date: 25th October 1957 Means: Pushed out of the window Angelo Bruno, 1980 Place: Intersection of 10th Street and Snyder Avenue, South Philadelphia Date: 21st March 1980 Means: Shotgun blast to the back of the head Three band members were taken from their tour bus and shot . The 55-cent stamp, designed with a 1967 publicity photograph of the band, included two of the slain members, Fran O'Toole and Brian McCoy, as part of the line-up when Dickie Rock was the frontman. "Robin Jackson and John Somerville had been very close friends since joining the Mid-Ulster UVF. [79] and that none of the perpetrators ever offered him an apology. He lay hidden in thick undergrowth, face down, undetected by the gunmen. [44], McDowell's statement of admission was published in David McKittrick's book Lost Lives:[44]. Before adjourning the Alex Murdaugh case today, Judge Clifford Newman warned against sharing graphic autopsy photos of Maggie and Paul's bodies that were accidentally shown during the trial.. He relayed all his instructions to the gunman in command. It allows for commemoration and leaving of flowers at the location itself. The gunman turned him round, punched him hard in the back and pushed him on the shoulder back into the line-up. Jackson was never charged with the Miami atrocity. The Mid-Ulster Battalion has been assisting the South Down-South Armagh units since the IRA Forkhill boobytrap which killed four British soldiers. He was also one of the prime suspects in the sectarian killing of Dorothy Traynor on 1 April 1975 in Portadown. He then drove to a lay-by on the Newry-Banbridge dual carriageway and met up with another five men, who were all wearing British Army uniforms. O'Toole and McCoy were both married; each had two children. [100] He did, however, express his concern over the fact that nobody was ever charged with his attempted murder. The plaque describes them as having been "killed in action". Unlike Jackson, Somerville was arrested in the wake of the Miami atrocity, but he refused to make a statement and was released without charge. [22] Near the junction with Buskhill Road they were flagged down by armed men dressed in British Army uniforms waving a red torch in a circular motion. [21][84], Former British soldier and writer Ken Wharton published in his book Wasted Years, Wasted Lives, Volume 1, an alternative theory that was suggested to him by loyalist paramilitarism researcher Jeanne Griffin; this was that the ambush was planned by Robin Jackson as an elaborate means of eliminating trumpet player Brian McCoy. A Sunday World investigation into the Miami Showband atrocity has revealed the now deceased killer's assertion was true. [69] Stephen Travers decried: "We believe the only conclusion possible arising from the HET report is that one of the most prolific loyalist murderers of the conflict was an RUC Special Branch agent and was involved in the Miami Showband attack". . It was one of a series of four stamps issued by An Post, celebrating the "golden age of the Irish showband era from the 1950s to the 1970s".[24]. 5 languages The Miami Showband killings (also called the Miami Showband massacre) [1] was an attack on 31 July 1975 by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group. When asked to comment about the report, Des McAlea replied: "It's been a long time but we've got justice at last". In a police statement made following his arrest for possession of the silencer and Luger on 31 May 1976, Jackson maintained that a week before he was taken into custody, two RUC officers had tipped him off about the discovery of his fingerprints on the silencer; he also claimed they had forewarned him: "I should clear as there was a wee job up the country that I would be done for and there was no way out of it for me". Among the large crowd he spotted Billy McCaughey, a former police sergeant and convicted killer who had named his UVF accomplices to investigating detectives. Survivors and relatives of those murdered in the Miami Showband massacre are to receive nearly 1.5m (1.75m) in total damages to settle claims over . In January 2015, he was found dead in his Shankill Road flat. He also added that "that bomb was definitely placed there with a view to killing all in that band".[22]. Director Stuart Sender Writers Jeff Zimbalist Michael Zimbalist Stars Stephen Travers Bertie Ahern The government held the view that the British Government had not done enough to stop sectarian assassinations in Northern Ireland. Others had already been convicted for the Miami attack and they wanted John to stay in the UVF, but to work for them," said a former loyalist prisoner who served time in prison with Somerville. "John said the cops told him there was no need for him to go to prison. Former serving Secret Intelligence Service agent Captain Fred Holroyd, and others, suggested that Nairac had organised the attack in co-operation with Robin Jackson and the Mid-Ulster UVF. It confirmed that Jackson was linked to the attack by fingerprints. His leadership was endorsed by the UVF's leader Gusty Spence. But the Sunday World has also learned that on January 4 1976, Jackson was accompanied by John Somerville when he burst into the home of the O'Dowd family at Ballyduggan, near Gilford, shooting three of them dead. Photograph: Independent News and Media/Getty Images A musician who survived the Miami showband massacre has, 40 years on, made an appeal to trace a young couple who helped him at the time. 14 December 2011. Just after the arrival of this mysterious soldier, McCoy nudged Travers, who was standing beside him, and reassured him by saying "Don't worry Stephen, this is British Army". Four Protestant civilians (two men and two women) and UVF member Hugh Harris were killed in the attack. [55] Both the silencer and pistol which was later established to have been the same one used in the Miami Showband killings were found by the security forces at the home of Edward Sinclair. Profitieren Sie von der globalen Reichweite, datengesttzten Erkenntnissen und einem Netzwerk von ber 340.000 Content-Anbietern von Getty Images, die exklusiv fr Ihre Marke Inhalte erstellen. [25] As McCoy rolled down the window and produced his driving licence, gunmen came up to the minibus and one of them said in a Northern Irish accent, "Goodnight, fellas. [14], Jackson was an alleged RUC Special Branch agent who was said by Yorkshire Television's The Hidden Hand: The Forgotten Massacre programme to have had links to both the Intelligence Corps and Captain Robert Nairac. It had been travelling from Banbridge to Bleary with nine people on board; all were Catholics and most had been returning from a regular bingo session. [23], According to the Irish Times, at the height of Irish showbands' popularity (from the 1950s to the 1970s), up to as many as 700 bands travelled to venues all over Ireland on a nightly basis.[24]. Somerville told other paramilitary prisoners how detectives repeatedly tried to persuade him to become a Special Branch tout operating inside the UVF. Both men had pleaded for their lives before they were shot; one had cried out, "Please don't shoot me don't kill me". After receiving radio confirmation that there were no authorised checkpoints in the area that night, they reported the incident and requested help from the British Army to investigate it, but no action was taken. [98] In 2011, Journalist Kevin Myers denounced the attack with the following statement: "in its diabolical inventiveness against such a group of harmless and nave young men, it is easily one of the most depraved [of the Troubles]". "The arm belonged to John's brother Wesley, who was killed in the Miami explosion. Miami Showband massacre survivors and relatives to get 1.5m in damages 'I wake up to these murders every day of my life,' band member Des McAlea tells court Expand The Miami Showband (from. [47] The RT programme Today Tonight aired a documentary in 1987 in which it claimed that former UVF associates of Harris Boyle revealed to the programme's researchers that Nairac had deliberately detonated the bomb to eliminate Boyle, with whom he had carried out the Green killing. I was told by a source close to "Mr. A" and another loyalist hitman that Nairac was not present at either murder [Miami Showband and John Francis Green]. [44] The independent panel of inquiry commissioned by the Pat Finucane Centre concluded that there was "credible evidence that the principal perpetrator [of the Miami Showband attack] was a man who was not prosecuted alleged RUC Special Branch agent Robin Jackson". But two other UVF men, Thomas Crozier and James McDowell - both soldiers in the UDR - were jailed for life. [22][91] It was revealed in Peter Taylor's book Loyalists that "the Craftsman" had been instrumental in bringing about the 1994 Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC) ceasefire. A child of Northern Ireland's Troubles recalls that fateful night when The Miami Showband was ambushed by the Ulster Volunteer Force on this day in 1975. They Cloned Tyrone. At no time did this new soldier speak to any of the band members nor did he directly address Crozier. Ray Millar, the band's drummer, was not with them as he had chosen to go to his home town of Antrim to spend the night with his parents. View On One Page Photo 22 of 51 ADVERTISEMENT () Start Slideshow . [46][49] In 1993, Boyle was named by The Hidden Hand programme as one of the Dublin car bombers. [37][38] This might have resulted in the Irish authorities enforcing tighter controls over the border, thus restricting IRA operations. [30][39], When the device was tilted on its side,[30] clumsy soldering on the clock used as a timer caused the bomb to explode prematurely, blowing the minibus apart and killing UVF men Harris Boyle (aged 22, a telephone wireman from Portadown) and Wesley Somerville (aged 34, a textile worker from Moygashel) instantly. However, Martin Dillon alleged that the bomb was meant to go off in the Irish Republic. Note: Initially it was believed that the bomb had been placed in the rear of the minibus and that the closure of the door had triggered the blast. In late 1974, the Miami Showband's song "Clap Your Hands and Stomp Your Feet" (featuring O'Toole on lead vocals) reached no. Jackson was convinced Hanna was a Special Branch informer and he feared he may spill details of the imminent Miami attack to his RUC handler. UVF serial killer John Somerville told how detectives repeatedly tried to persuade him to become Special Branch tout and avoid jail, No remorse: Miami Showband killer John Somerville. His cell was kept immaculately clean and visitors were required to remove their shoes before entering. Geraghty was engaged to be married. [59] Two days later, Portadown disc jockey Norman "Mooch" Kerr, aged 28,[60] was shot dead by the IRA as he packed up his equipment after a show at the Camrick Bar in Armagh. The Gruesome Death Scene Launch Gallery. They asked him if he recognised it or could he identify it. The three men were sent to serve their sentence in the Maze Prison, on the outskirts of Lisburn. [35] Dillon also opined in God and the Gun: The Church and Irish Terrorism that the dead bombers, Harris Boyle and Wesley Somerville, had actually led the UVF gang at Buskhill. They were: lead vocalist and keyboard player Fran O'Toole, 28, Catholic; guitarist Anthony (Tony) Geraghty, 24, Catholic, from Dublin; trumpeter Brian McCoy, 32, Protestant, from Caledon, County Tyrone; saxophonist Des McAlea (a.k.a. Please check your inbox to verify your details, Now download the free app for all the latest Sunday World News, Crime, Irish Showbiz and Sport. [19] [21][22][31] Travers thought that McCoy, a Protestant from Northern Ireland, was familiar with security checkpoints and had reckoned the regular British Army would be more efficient than the Ulster Defense Regiment (UDR), who had a reputation for unprofessional and unpredictable behaviour, especially toward people from the Republic. "A hundred of your men haven't done what I've done," he told a UVF leader. When McCoy refused, Jackson then hatched his plan to murder McCoy and his bandmates in retaliation for what he viewed as having betrayed the loyalist cause, even macabrely choosing Buskhill as the ambush site due to its similarity to Bus-kill. And he wanted Frazer to ensure the Miami killer received any assistance he needed in adjusting to life on the outside. As Maguire continued ahead, up the by-pass toward Newry, he noticed a blue Triumph 2000 pulling-out from where it had been parked in a lay-by. [19], The 1975 line-up comprised four Catholics and two Protestants. They sprung terror attacks in south Armagh, south Down, east Tyrone and even as far away as south Derry. [46] Some time after the attack, RUC officers questioned Stephen Travers at Dublin Castle. Five members of the Dublin-based band were travelling home after a performance at the Castle Ballroom in Banbridge, County Down, on Thursday 31 July 1975. Can you step out of the van for a few minutes and we'll just do a check". Travers later recalled hearing one of the departing gunmen tell his comrade who had kicked McCoy's body to make sure he was not alive: "Come on, those bastards are dead. The attack was carried out by loyalist paramilitary group, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and took place while the group, a popular cabaret band, were travelling home to Dublin after a performance. They were driving home from a Gaelic football match in Dublin. What little that remained intact of their bodies was burnt beyond recognition; one of the limbless torsos was completely charred.[20]. As the UUUC would not abide any form of power-sharing with the Dublin government, no agreement could be reached and the convention failed, again marginalising Northern Ireland's politicians and the communities they represented. [27], After McCoy told them they were the Miami Showband, Thomas Crozier (who had a notebook) asked the band members for their names and addresses, while the others bantered with them about the success of their performance that night and playfully asking which one was Dickie Rock. In the ensuing confusion the UVF men opened fire on the band, killing three and wounding two. This meant that both it and the UDA were legal organisations. Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention, Timeline of Ulster Volunteer Force actions, "Sunningdale pushed hardliners into fatal outrages in 1974", "Events: Dublin and Monaghan Bombs Chronology of Events", "Collusion in the South Armagh / Mid Ulster Area in the mid-1970s", "All About the Miami Showband (19611996)", "The Miami Band Lined Up Against the Van. Findings in a report carried out by the PSNI's Historic Enquiries Team into the Miami atrocity stated that there was fingerprint evidence linking Robin Jackson to the attack. The Luger was destroyed by the RUC on 28 August 1978. [4], In May 1974, unionists called a general strike to protest against the Sunningdale Agreement an attempt at power-sharing, setting up a Northern Ireland Executive and a cross-border Council of Ireland, which would have given the Government of Ireland a voice in running Northern Ireland. And two years later when he was scooped in an RUC raid in Dungannon on September 26, 1980, he made a detailed confession outlining his involvement in numerous UVF murders. Boards zijn de beste plekken om beelden en videoclips op te slaan. [43], Ballistic evidence indicates that the 10-member gang took at least six guns with them on the attack. In a report published in the Sunday Mirror in 1999, Colin Wills called the Miami Showband attack "one of the worst atrocities in the 30-year history of the Troubles". The Miami Showband's surviving members Des Lee, Ray Miller and Stephen Travers Credit . [62] One report says it was stopped at a fake British Army checkpoint. Krijg toegang tot het beste van Getty Images met ons eenvoudige abonnement. He was unimpressed by the UVF men he met in the loyalist stronghold. Lightly built and standing less than 5ft 7in, he wasn't a stereotypical loyalist killer. Crozier told police, and later a court, that he had not played a large part in the attack. The murder of singer Fran O'Toole . [22][44], One of the first RUC men who arrived at Buskhill in the wake of the killings was scenes of crime officer James O'Neill. Everybody was respectful to Brian". Three band members were shot dead by loyalist gunmen. Irish Times diarist Frank McNally summed up the massacre as "an incident that encapsulated all the madness of the time". [48] Harris Boyle and Wesley Somerville were UDR soldiers as well as holding the rank of major and lieutenant, respectively, in the UVF. 10th December, 2014. [4] The UVF had cut all ties with Somerville after he had opposed the 1994 ceasefire. Photograph: Independent News and Media/Getty Images [5] At Christmas 1974 the IRA declared a ceasefire, which theoretically lasted throughout most of 1975. Asked whether he had anything valuable inside the case, Travers replied no. [20], Bassist Stephen Travers was seriously wounded by a dum-dum bullet which had struck him when the gunmen had first begun shooting. Three photos, which have been cropped slightly and published below, show the extent of the injuries to Rainey's chest, back, arms and legs. According to Kerr, on 31 July 1975 at 4 am Nairac had started out on a road journey from London to Scotland for a fishing holiday. [5], UK Home Secretary Roy Jenkins introduced the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which gave the government unprecedented powers against the liberty of individuals in the United Kingdom in peacetime. [94][95], A mural and memorial plaque to Harris Boyle and Wesley Somerville is in the Killycomain Estate in Portadown, where Boyle had lived. On October 23, 1975, Somerville and Jackson led a UVF team in the savage murders of Peter McKearney (63) and his wife Jane (58) at their home near the Moy. [86] Weir alleged the bomb used in the Miami Showband attack came from Mitchell's farm. The RUC were led to him through his glasses which had been found at the murder scene. Harris Boyle and Wesley Somerville were given UVF paramilitary funerals conducted by Free Presbyterian minister William McCrea, a Democratic Unionist Party politician. Agent Elvis. The scene of the Miami Showband killings in County Down, Northern Ireland, on 31 July 1975. The Miami Showband was a popular Dublin-based Irish showband, enjoying fame and, according to journalist Peter Taylor, "Beatle-like devotion" from fans on both sides of the Irish border. UVF killer Wesley Somerville who died in the attack. "Des Lee"), 24, Catholic, from Belfast; bassist Stephen Travers, 24, Catholic, from Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary; and drummer Ray Millar, Protestant, from Antrim. The Historical Enquiries Team (HET), which was set up to investigate the more controversial Troubles-related deaths, released its report on the Miami Showband killings to the victims' families in December 2011. Verzamel, beheer en geef commentaar bij uw bestanden. Following the explosion pandemonium broke out among the remaining gunmen; shouting obscenities, they started shooting the dazed band members, who had all been blown down into the field below the level of the road from the force of the blast. Hier knnen Sie Inhalte sammeln, auswhlen und Anmerkungen zu Ihren Dateien hinterlegen. It was my own personal feelings and convictions at the time these things happened. [9] According to authors Paul Larkin and Martin Dillon, Jackson was accompanied by Harris Boyle when he killed Hanna. [63] The IRA has denied responsibility. [88], Travers travelled to Belfast in 2006 for a secret meeting with the second-in-command of the UVF's Brigade Staff, in an attempt to come to terms with the killing of his former colleagues and friends. It took place on the A1 road at Buskhill in County Down, Northern Ireland. The Miami Showband toured throughout 1970s Ireland before the attack The musicians were ordered to line up at the roadside outside Newry while the gang loaded a bomb on to their bus. According to former Intelligence Corps agent Captain Fred Holroyd, the killings were organised by British intelligence officer Robert Nairac, together with the UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade and its commander Robin "the Jackal" Jackson. With Dublin-born singer [Jimmy Harte] as frontman followed by Dickie Rock as frontman, the Miami Showband underwent many personnel changes over the years. In 1978, he became a born-again Christian. Jane Carter says late son received many threats prior to his death. In photographs of the Miami Showband in the 1970s he is a slim and beautiful young man in blue denim , bright-eyed and brimming with fun and music and confidence in himself and in the future..

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