James Shortt
Encyclopedia
James Gerard Richard Shortt, also known as Jim Shortt, Jimbo, Seamus Shortt, Colonel The Chevalier James Shortt, James Shortt of Castleshort, or The Baron Castleshort, (born Croydon
, 16th September 1953) is an English
born Director General of the International Bodyguard Association
(IBA). In 2009 Shortt was exposed by a British tabloid newspaper as passing himself off
as a much-decorated SAS
and Parachute Regiment veteran.
and opened his first dojo
at age 14. In 1970, his family moved and for a time lived in Ireland. Shortt studied in the Catholic priesthood for 5 years and entered the Capuchin Franciscan Order
. In 1976, he left the order and married Georgina Barrett, with whom he had 3 children.
In 1990, Shortt became the Director General of the International Bodyguard Association, following the death of its founder Lucien Ott. Under Shortt's leadership, the IBA head-quartered at "Castle Cosey, Castlebellingham
" in County Louth
, Ireland. In March 2009, Irish media uncovered the fact that Shortt's baronial "castle" was in fact only a modest house built within the village of Castlebellingham
.
According to his website, Shortt and his wife style themselves "Baron and Baroness Castleshort", members of the Niadh Nask
, a self-styled
nobiliary association devised by Terence Francis MacCarthy
, the bogus Irish chieftain
. Shortt's association with MacCarthy led him to send threats to critics of MacCarthy in 1999 when MacCarthy had been outed by the press as a fraud. In one such threat Shortt styled himself as "Colonel Commandant" of "The Royal Eóghanacht Galloglas Guard
" which he stated was the "duly sworn bodyguard
of Terence Francis MacCarthy". In the letter, he warned those who criticised MacCarthy that they had been placed under surveillance. Following the MacCarthy Mor scandal which led MacCarthy to flee Ireland after public humiliation, Shortt became a member of the "Nia Naisc"—a Scottish re-creation of the fake Irish order created by MacCarthy in the 1980s. In his biography which appears on several International Bodyguard Association websites, Shortt claims to be a member of the "Irish Papal Awards Association" and the "UK Association of Papal Knights" for having been made a Knight Commander of St Gregory
by Pope John Paul II "in recognition for his work in towards moving the Cold War
to an end".
Shortt has authored several books dealing with military special forces units—particularly the British SAS. He has also made appearances in several books and magazine articles. In The Gun Digest Book of Assault Weapons Short is described as a "British Royal Marine (TA)" and that "Shortt has other military training as well, but details of it are still classified". In Terry Whites's The SAS Fighting Techniques Handbook, Shortt is thanked by the author for his insights in close personal protection and counter-terrorism
. The author also states in his acknowledgements that Shortt is a "former member of the British Parachute Regiment and Special Air Service". The Finnish martial arts magazine BudoExpress carried an interview with Shortt in which he alludes to service in Northern Ireland
and the Falklands war
.
In 2009, the British satirical magazine Private Eye
reported in its Squarebasher column that in February 2008, Brian Ware, who headed the departmental security department at the Cabinet Office
, announced that Shortt had been appointed as "Security Assessor to provide an independent overview... of the guarding function, its capabilities and performances at the Cabinet Office, 70 Whitehall, following the privatisation of the in-house guard service and their outsourcing". Private Eye published parts of Shortt's CV in which he claimed to have been awarded 15 "honours", two Papal knighthoods, and "Military Parachute & Special Forces
Awards" from 12 countries. Private Eye continued to quote Shortt's CV, which claimed that he had served in the 10th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, and B and HQ Squadron 21st Special Air Service Regiment. Another one of Shortt's claims quoted was that he was "the first outsider to train KGB
(Crimea
1991)".
On 29 January 2009, the British tabloid newspaper The Sun
ran an article, based heavily on the Private Eye
piece which stated Brian Ware had been suspended for allowing a man on to Cabinet Office
property without ensuring he had proper authorisation. The article also stated that Shortt had never belonged to either the Special Air Service (SAS) or the Parachute Regiment. According to The Sun, Shortt had only been a medic
in the Territorial Army and had left within months of joining. The following day The Sun quoted several claims listed on Shortt's CV including his claim of being a Gant d’Or ("golden gloves") in French Savate
and a 9th Dan black belt
in traditional Japanese Ju Jutsu from the "Dai Nihon Seibukan in Kyoto, Japan".
In the 13 March 2009 issue of the Irish magazine The Phoenix
, it was reported that Shortt was preparing to take legal action against ARRSE (The Army Rumour Service
)—a website largely made up of serving and retired members of the British Armed Forces
. Members of the website had previously been looking into Shortt's military credentials and claims of participation in various counter-terrorist operations. According to The Phoenix, Shortt has informed IBA members that he is being besieged by a hate campaign
orchestrated by jealous business rivals and disillusioned former students. In consequence, Shortt has informed colleagues that his lead solicitor
has several court cases in preparation. In July 2009, The Dundalk Leader reported that Shortt had contacted Dermot Ahern
, the Irish Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, concerning what he called "cyber stalking". The Irish newspaper reported that the man whom Shortt claimed as a stalker
had also been in contact with Ahern's office over concerns of alleged paramilitary training conducted by Shortt during his bodyguard classes conducted at Castlebellingham. Also in July, The Phoenix reported that IBA videos recorded at Castlebellingham, viewable on YouTube
, show Shortt demonstrating the use of an assortment of firearms, including a Kalashnikov
assault-rifle.
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
, 16th September 1953) is an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
born Director General of the International Bodyguard Association
International Bodyguard Association
The International Bodyguard Association is an organization established by Lucien Ott in Paris in December 1957. The Association's primary objective is to train customers in bodyguard techniques...
(IBA). In 2009 Shortt was exposed by a British tabloid newspaper as passing himself off
Walter Mitty
Walter Mitty is a fictional character in James Thurber's short story "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", first published in the New Yorker on March 18, 1939, and in book form in My World and Welcome to It in 1942...
as a much-decorated SAS
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
and Parachute Regiment veteran.
Life
James Shortt was born on the 16th September 1953 in England, to Peter Henry and Maura Shortt. From an early age he studied martial artsMartial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
and opened his first dojo
Dojo
A is a Japanese term which literally means "place of the way". Initially, dōjōs were adjunct to temples. The term can refer to a formal training place for any of the Japanese do arts but typically it is considered the formal gathering place for students of any Japanese martial arts style to...
at age 14. In 1970, his family moved and for a time lived in Ireland. Shortt studied in the Catholic priesthood for 5 years and entered the Capuchin Franciscan Order
Order of Friars Minor Capuchin
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is an Order of friars in the Catholic Church, among the chief offshoots of the Franciscans. The worldwide head of the Order, called the Minister General, is currently Father Mauro Jöhri.-Origins :...
. In 1976, he left the order and married Georgina Barrett, with whom he had 3 children.
In 1990, Shortt became the Director General of the International Bodyguard Association, following the death of its founder Lucien Ott. Under Shortt's leadership, the IBA head-quartered at "Castle Cosey, Castlebellingham
Castlebellingham
Castlebellingham is a village and townland in County Louth, Ireland. The village has got a lot quieter since the construction of the new M1 motorway which bypasses the village...
" in County Louth
County Louth
County Louth is a county of Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Louth. Louth County Council is the local authority for the county...
, Ireland. In March 2009, Irish media uncovered the fact that Shortt's baronial "castle" was in fact only a modest house built within the village of Castlebellingham
Castlebellingham
Castlebellingham is a village and townland in County Louth, Ireland. The village has got a lot quieter since the construction of the new M1 motorway which bypasses the village...
.
According to his website, Shortt and his wife style themselves "Baron and Baroness Castleshort", members of the Niadh Nask
Niadh Nask
The Niadh Nask was a self-styled nobiliary association devised by the self-styled MacCarthy Mór, Terence Francis MacCarthy. It was alleged to be a nobiliary fraternity which developed from the old warrior-guard of the Kings of Munster. The group dissolved when it was proven that its Grand Master...
, a self-styled
Self-styled orders
Pseudo-chivalric orders or self-styled orders are organizations which falsely claim to be chivalric orders. Most self-styled orders arose in or after the mid-eighteenth century and many have been created in the present day, though most are short-lived and endure no more than a few decades.A...
nobiliary association devised by Terence Francis MacCarthy
Terence Francis MacCarthy
Terence Francis MacCarthy , formerly self-styled Tadhg V, The MacCarthy Mór, Prince of Desmond and Lord of Kerslawny, is a genealogist, historian, and writer. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, he is a resident of Morocco...
, the bogus Irish chieftain
Chiefs of the Name
The Chief of the Name, or in older English usage Captain of his Nation, is the recognised head of a family or clan...
. Shortt's association with MacCarthy led him to send threats to critics of MacCarthy in 1999 when MacCarthy had been outed by the press as a fraud. In one such threat Shortt styled himself as "Colonel Commandant" of "The Royal Eóghanacht Galloglas Guard
Royal Galloglas Guard
The Royal Eóghanacht Galloglas Guard is the private army of self-styled Irish chieftain, James Shortt, The Baron of Castleshort. The organisation claimed tenuous links to the Scottish mercenaries of The Dark Ages, though quite how has never been explained....
" which he stated was the "duly sworn bodyguard
Bodyguard
A bodyguard is a type of security operative or government agent who protects a person—usually a famous, wealthy, or politically important figure—from assault, kidnapping, assassination, stalking, loss of confidential information, terrorist attack or other threats.Most important public figures such...
of Terence Francis MacCarthy". In the letter, he warned those who criticised MacCarthy that they had been placed under surveillance. Following the MacCarthy Mor scandal which led MacCarthy to flee Ireland after public humiliation, Shortt became a member of the "Nia Naisc"—a Scottish re-creation of the fake Irish order created by MacCarthy in the 1980s. In his biography which appears on several International Bodyguard Association websites, Shortt claims to be a member of the "Irish Papal Awards Association" and the "UK Association of Papal Knights" for having been made a Knight Commander of St Gregory
Order of St. Gregory the Great
The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great , was established on September 1, 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election.It is one of the five orders of knighthood of the Holy See...
by Pope John Paul II "in recognition for his work in towards moving the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
to an end".
Shortt has authored several books dealing with military special forces units—particularly the British SAS. He has also made appearances in several books and magazine articles. In The Gun Digest Book of Assault Weapons Short is described as a "British Royal Marine (TA)" and that "Shortt has other military training as well, but details of it are still classified". In Terry Whites's The SAS Fighting Techniques Handbook, Shortt is thanked by the author for his insights in close personal protection and counter-terrorism
Counter-terrorism
Counter-terrorism is the practices, tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, militaries, police departments and corporations adopt to prevent or in response to terrorist threats and/or acts, both real and imputed.The tactic of terrorism is available to insurgents and governments...
. The author also states in his acknowledgements that Shortt is a "former member of the British Parachute Regiment and Special Air Service". The Finnish martial arts magazine BudoExpress carried an interview with Shortt in which he alludes to service in Northern Ireland
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
and the Falklands war
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
.
In 2009, the British satirical magazine Private Eye
Private Eye
Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop.Since its first publication in 1961, Private Eye has been a prominent critic and lampooner of public figures and entities that it deemed guilty of any of the sins of incompetence, inefficiency,...
reported in its Squarebasher column that in February 2008, Brian Ware, who headed the departmental security department at the Cabinet Office
Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet of the United Kingdom....
, announced that Shortt had been appointed as "Security Assessor to provide an independent overview... of the guarding function, its capabilities and performances at the Cabinet Office, 70 Whitehall, following the privatisation of the in-house guard service and their outsourcing". Private Eye published parts of Shortt's CV in which he claimed to have been awarded 15 "honours", two Papal knighthoods, and "Military Parachute & Special Forces
Special forces
Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
Awards" from 12 countries. Private Eye continued to quote Shortt's CV, which claimed that he had served in the 10th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, and B and HQ Squadron 21st Special Air Service Regiment. Another one of Shortt's claims quoted was that he was "the first outsider to train KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
(Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
1991)".
On 29 January 2009, the British tabloid newspaper The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
ran an article, based heavily on the Private Eye
Private Eye
Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop.Since its first publication in 1961, Private Eye has been a prominent critic and lampooner of public figures and entities that it deemed guilty of any of the sins of incompetence, inefficiency,...
piece which stated Brian Ware had been suspended for allowing a man on to Cabinet Office
Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Office is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet of the United Kingdom....
property without ensuring he had proper authorisation. The article also stated that Shortt had never belonged to either the Special Air Service (SAS) or the Parachute Regiment. According to The Sun, Shortt had only been a medic
Medic
Medic is a general term for a person involved in medicine, especially emergency or first-response medicine, such as an emergency medical technician, paramedic, or a military member trained in battlefield medicine. Also the term is used toward a Nurse in pre-hospital care and/or emergency...
in the Territorial Army and had left within months of joining. The following day The Sun quoted several claims listed on Shortt's CV including his claim of being a Gant d’Or ("golden gloves") in French Savate
Savate
Savate , also known as boxe française, French boxing, French kickboxing or French footfighting, is a French martial art which uses the hands and feet as weapons combining elements of western boxing with graceful kicking techniques. Only foot kicks are allowed unlike some systems such as Muay...
and a 9th Dan black belt
Black belt (martial arts)
In martial arts, the black belt is a way to describe a graduate of a field where a practitioner's level is often marked by the color of the belt. The black belt is commonly the highest belt color used and denotes a degree of competence. It is often associated with a teaching grade though...
in traditional Japanese Ju Jutsu from the "Dai Nihon Seibukan in Kyoto, Japan".
In the 13 March 2009 issue of the Irish magazine The Phoenix
The Phoenix (magazine)
The Phoenix is Ireland's best selling political and current affairs magazine. Inspired by the British magazine Private Eye, and a source of investigative journalism in Ireland...
, it was reported that Shortt was preparing to take legal action against ARRSE (The Army Rumour Service
The Army Rumour Service
The Army Rumour Service is an unofficial British Army website and forum. Known colloquially as ARRSE - from "ARmy Rumour SErvice" - the site styles itself as the unofficial voice of the British Army...
)—a website largely made up of serving and retired members of the British Armed Forces
British Armed Forces
The British Armed Forces are the armed forces of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.Also known as Her Majesty's Armed Forces and sometimes legally the Armed Forces of the Crown, the British Armed Forces encompasses three professional uniformed services, the Royal Navy, the...
. Members of the website had previously been looking into Shortt's military credentials and claims of participation in various counter-terrorist operations. According to The Phoenix, Shortt has informed IBA members that he is being besieged by a hate campaign
Smear campaign
A smear campaign, smear tactic or simply smear is a metaphor for activity that can harm an individual or group's reputation by conflation with a stigmatized group...
orchestrated by jealous business rivals and disillusioned former students. In consequence, Shortt has informed colleagues that his lead solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
has several court cases in preparation. In July 2009, The Dundalk Leader reported that Shortt had contacted Dermot Ahern
Dermot Ahern
Dermot Christopher Ahern is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Teachta Dála for the Louth constituency from 1987 to 2011...
, the Irish Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, concerning what he called "cyber stalking". The Irish newspaper reported that the man whom Shortt claimed as a stalker
Stalking
Stalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted and obsessive attention by an individual or group to another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them via the internet...
had also been in contact with Ahern's office over concerns of alleged paramilitary training conducted by Shortt during his bodyguard classes conducted at Castlebellingham. Also in July, The Phoenix reported that IBA videos recorded at Castlebellingham, viewable on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, show Shortt demonstrating the use of an assortment of firearms, including a Kalashnikov
AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
assault-rifle.
Works
- The Special Air Service with Angus McBride (Illustrator), Osprey Publishing
- British Special Forces, 1945 to the Present (Uniforms Illustrated)
- Beginning Ju-jitsu: Ryoi-shinto Style with Katsuharu Hashimoto, and James Short
- British Parachute Regiment (Uniforms illustrated)