Jim Spence (loyalist)
Encyclopedia
Jim Spence is a Northern Irish
former loyalist
activist. Spence became notorious for his time in the Ulster Defence Association
(UDA), serving two spells as Brigadier in West Belfast
. Spence is a native of the Woodvale area of Belfast's Shankill Road
, which covered the Woodvale area at the top of the Shankill Road, during the 1980s and 1990s. In this role Spence has been shown to have been closely involved with British agent Brian Nelson
. On 22 September 1988 Gerard Slane was shot dead at his Falls Road home after members of the "Ulster Freedom Fighters" broke down his front door and shot him four times in the head. An article that appeared in the UDA's Ulster magazine claimed that Slane was a member of the Irish People's Liberation Organisation
(IPLO) and had driven the getaway car when UDA member Billy Quee was killed by that group although the IPLO did not claim Slane as a member following his killing.
In 1992 Nelson issued a statement in which he placed the blame on Spence for the killing. According to Nelson he had obtained a photograph of Slane and had shown it to eyewitnesses who identified Slane as the driver at Quee's murder. Nelson then claimed that he gave the picture to Spence who told Nelson that "I'll soon deal with him" and dispatched a murder squad after first sending a reconnaissance team to find Slane's house. Johnny Adair
would later frequently recount the details of how he had been one of the two gunmen to kill Slane, although in truth this had not been the case. The actual killers have not been identified but they wer picked by Spence from within the ranks of B Company whilst Adair had always been a member of the Lower Shankill's C Company. The Attorney General for Northern Ireland ordered that the murder case be reopened in June 2011 in order to investigate the collusion allegations.
in February 1989. According to Ken Barrett, who killed Finucane, it had been Spence who had initially suggested to him that Finucane should be killed. Spence introduced Barrett to an officer from Special Branch
with whom the B Company commander had been in regular contact and it was from this man that Barrett received the information that Finucane was organising the IRA's finances.
, the West Belfast brigadier was the first to be jailed and he was soon followed by Matt Kincaid, Spence and William "Winkie" Dodds
, the commanders respectively of A, B and C companies, the brigade's three sub-units. Soon after his arrest Lyttle was removed as Brigadier and declared persona non grata as most of his allies in the UDA had already retired or died. Tommy Irvine, who replaced Lyttle as West Belfast Brigadier, favoured a less centralised structure to the Brigade and gave more of a free hand to the more violent-minded younger men such as Spence, Adair and Mo Courtney
. Irvine made Spence military commander of the West Belfast Brigade although only a few weeks into this role Spence's Stevens Inquiries arrest came. Irvine was himself arrested in August 1990 and following his incarceration was very briefly replaced by Ken Barrett
. However a power struggle broke out and Billy Kennedy, Tommy Lyttle's brother in law, briefly assumed the role of West Belfast Brigadier. Spence however was released from prison in October and he immediately assumed the role of Brigadier for himself, appointing Johnny Adair to the role of military commander.
As brigadier Spence had overall command of the UDA in West Belfast although the bloody trail being waged by Adair as military commander meant that the supposed deputy was gaining most of the attnetion. By late 1991 Spence had begun to resent the power and influence enjoyed by Adair and he feared that C Company, which remained Adair's main power base, had become financially independent of the West Belfast Brigade. Spence was pleased when Adair's Langley Street Social Club, a major source of income, was raided by police and put out of business but his anxiety was raised further when Adair began to talk of targeting members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary
(RUC), something that was generally an anathema to loyalists. Ultimately however Spence and Adair remained close friends and as a result the brigadier was able to persuade his second in command to abandon plans to kill police. Indeed their friendship was so close that during the summer of 1993 the pair went on holiday together with their families to Tenerife
.
Whilst Adair had taken care of the killing side in West Belfast Spence had concentrated on the moneymaking elements of the UDA and had built up a large network of extortion and racketeering. Spence was arrested on charges of extortion in March 1993, and as was the established procedure, he was forced to relinquish his position as Brigadier. As a consequence Johnny Adair immediately succeeded Spence as West Belfast Brigadier.
after suffering a bad reaction when his drink was spiked with an ecstasy tablet by a member of C Company. Whilst in the hospital he was visited by members of the RUC who asked him who he had been drinking with. Cardwell named the UDA members he was with, having failed to grasp the code of secrecy governing the UDA. In order to send a message to informers Adair had Cardwell abducted following his release from hospital and subjected to a long and brutal interrogation process. He was shot and left to bleed to death with C Company member Gary McMaster later sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the murder. Spence reacted to the killing with disgust, considering Cardwell to be harmless, and along with Matt Kincaid even concocted a plot to have a gun placed in Adair's house in order that he would be imprisoned with them to give them a chance to reason with him. Ultimately the plan was not enacted as Adair remained a hugely popular figure on the Shankill despite the killing. However Spence, or "Spencer" as he was known locally, remained an ally of Adair and following his release in the mid 1990s returned to influence under new brigadier Winkie Dodds, whom Adair had appointed in his stead following his own arrest. Spence attended the wedding of Adair and Gina Crossan, held in prison, on 21 February 1997. Like Adair, Spence also advocated a closer relationship with the emerging Loyalist Volunteer Force
(LVF) and Spence personally enjoyed a close relationship with Jackie Mahood, a former member of the Ulster Volunteer Force
(UVF) who was allied to the LVF leader Billy Wright
and who tried to convince the Portadown
-based leader to take control of the UVF as a whole.
Following Adair's release and return to the role of Brigadier he attempted to involve Spence, back in command of B Company, in his 2000 feud with the UVF. On 21 August the UVF had shot and killed two of Adair's allies, Jackie Coulter and Bobby Mahood, whilst they sat in a car on the Crumlin Road
. Soon afterwards Adair saw Progressive Unionist Party
spokesman Billy Hutchinson
on television and immediately rang Spence and told him to "shoot the fucker...right now". Spence intimated that he would although he had no desire to become involved in the feud whilst Adair did not realise that Spence's phone had been bugged by Special Branch who heard the entire conversation. Spence was particularly wary of provoking open conflict with the UVF as, unlike Adair's Lower Shankill stronghold, the Woodvale area was solid UVF turf and for a spell the social club Spence and B Company ran on Heather Street had to be guarded by soldiers of the British Army
due to anticipation of an attack. No attack on Hutchinson took place and Adair was returned to jail soon afterwards, the feud ending as a result.
programme Panorama
was broadcast in which Nelson's claims linking Spence to the Pat Finucane killing were broadcast. It was not the first time that such allegations had been made as rumours that Spence was an informer had surfaced regularly. The suggestion that Spence was a high-ranking informer raised some anger and for Mo Courtney the only solution was to kill Spence. Adair refused to sanction the killing, as he remained on good terms with Spence and felt that he was loyal, and the incident helped to drive a wedge between Adair and Courtney. Adair finally broke from Spence in 2003 when South Belfast Brigadier Jackie McDonald
purged the Shankill of C Company and Adair's supporters. Adair reacted by denouncing Spence as a "liar and a tout" in a carefully orchestrated media campaign over the following months. Spence, who had tired of Adair's extremism, had helped to facilitate McDonald's assault on the Lower Shankill.
, where his followers had fled to in 2003. Spence meanwhile had in fact remained as Brigadier and was still in the role by November 2004.
In 2006 the Daily Ireland
reported that the UDA intended to expel Spence, as part of a move aimed at removing a number of "undesirables" including the Shoukri brothers, whose presence was seen as damaging the UDA's chances of securing government funding for its projects. The paper reported that there was a reluctance amongst the leadership to oust Spence however as he controlled the finances in West Belfast and would be likely to abscond with much of their money. Rumours that Spence was to be stood down had in fact first appeared in the paper as early as April 2005. However Spence was replaced as Brigadier in 2006 by fellow long-term activist Matt Kincaid.
Spence was recorded most recently in March 2011 as part of a publicly-funded trip to Auschwitz where he accompanied other veteran loyalists such as Courtney and Billy "Twister" McQuiston
on a trip to learn about Polish
culture. Allegations however appeared in the press that Spence and his fellow loyalists actually spent most of their time at bars and strip clubs.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
former loyalist
Ulster loyalism
Ulster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
activist. Spence became notorious for his time in the Ulster Defence Association
Ulster Defence Association
The Ulster Defence Association is the largest although not the deadliest loyalist paramilitary and vigilante group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during "The Troubles"...
(UDA), serving two spells as Brigadier in West Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
. Spence is a native of the Woodvale area of Belfast's Shankill Road
Gerard Slane
Spence was commander of 'B' Company of the UDA's West Belfast BrigadeUDA West Belfast Brigade
The UDA West Belfast Brigade is the section of the Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary group the Ulster Defence Association based in the western quarter of Belfast in the Greater Shankill area...
, which covered the Woodvale area at the top of the Shankill Road, during the 1980s and 1990s. In this role Spence has been shown to have been closely involved with British agent Brian Nelson
Brian Nelson (1948–2003)
Brian Nelson was a Northern Ireland British Army Intelligence Corps agent who also operated as the intelligence chief of the loyalist Ulster Defence Association paramilitary organisation.-Early life:...
. On 22 September 1988 Gerard Slane was shot dead at his Falls Road home after members of the "Ulster Freedom Fighters" broke down his front door and shot him four times in the head. An article that appeared in the UDA's Ulster magazine claimed that Slane was a member of the Irish People's Liberation Organisation
Irish People's Liberation Organisation
The Irish People's Liberation Organisation was a small Irish republican paramilitary organization which was formed in 1986 by disaffected and expelled members of the Irish National Liberation Army whose factions coalesced in the aftermath of the supergrass trials...
(IPLO) and had driven the getaway car when UDA member Billy Quee was killed by that group although the IPLO did not claim Slane as a member following his killing.
In 1992 Nelson issued a statement in which he placed the blame on Spence for the killing. According to Nelson he had obtained a photograph of Slane and had shown it to eyewitnesses who identified Slane as the driver at Quee's murder. Nelson then claimed that he gave the picture to Spence who told Nelson that "I'll soon deal with him" and dispatched a murder squad after first sending a reconnaissance team to find Slane's house. Johnny Adair
Johnny Adair
Jonathan Adair, better known as Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair is the former leader of the "C Company", 2nd Battalion Shankill Road, West Belfast Brigade of the "Ulster Freedom Fighters" . This was a cover name used by the Ulster Defence Association , an Ulster loyalist paramilitary organisation...
would later frequently recount the details of how he had been one of the two gunmen to kill Slane, although in truth this had not been the case. The actual killers have not been identified but they wer picked by Spence from within the ranks of B Company whilst Adair had always been a member of the Lower Shankill's C Company. The Attorney General for Northern Ireland ordered that the murder case be reopened in June 2011 in order to investigate the collusion allegations.
Pat Finucane
Spence was also named as having been involved in the murder of solicitor Pat FinucanePat Finucane (solicitor)
Patrick Finucane was a Catholic Belfast solicitor killed by loyalist paramilitaries on 12 February 1989. His killing was one of the most controversial during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Finucane came to prominence due to successfully challenging the British Government over several important...
in February 1989. According to Ken Barrett, who killed Finucane, it had been Spence who had initially suggested to him that Finucane should be killed. Spence introduced Barrett to an officer from Special Branch
Special Branch
Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security in British and Commonwealth police forces, as well as in the Royal Thai Police...
with whom the B Company commander had been in regular contact and it was from this man that Barrett received the information that Finucane was organising the IRA's finances.
Brigadier
In 1990 Spence was one of a number of leading figures within the West Belfast UDA imprisoned as part of the Stevens Inquiries. Tommy LyttleTommy Lyttle
Tommy "Tucker" Lyttle , was a high-ranking Northern Irish loyalist who was a member of the Ulster Defence Association . He served as the UDA's spokesman as well as the leader of the organisation's West Belfast Brigade from 1975 until his arrest and imprisonment in 1990...
, the West Belfast brigadier was the first to be jailed and he was soon followed by Matt Kincaid, Spence and William "Winkie" Dodds
William "Winkie" Dodds
William "Winkie" Dodds is a Northern Irish loyalist activist. He was a leading member of the West Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Defence Association and for a number of years a close ally of Johnny Adair...
, the commanders respectively of A, B and C companies, the brigade's three sub-units. Soon after his arrest Lyttle was removed as Brigadier and declared persona non grata as most of his allies in the UDA had already retired or died. Tommy Irvine, who replaced Lyttle as West Belfast Brigadier, favoured a less centralised structure to the Brigade and gave more of a free hand to the more violent-minded younger men such as Spence, Adair and Mo Courtney
Mo Courtney
William "Mo" Courntey was an Ulster Defence Association 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.-Early years:In the late 1970s and early 1980s Courtney was...
. Irvine made Spence military commander of the West Belfast Brigade although only a few weeks into this role Spence's Stevens Inquiries arrest came. Irvine was himself arrested in August 1990 and following his incarceration was very briefly replaced by Ken Barrett
Ken Barrett
Ken Barrett is a Northern Irish former loyalist paramilitary. A leading figure within the Ulster Defence Association , Barrett has been at the centre of allegations about collusion between loyalists and the British security forces during the Troubles.-Early years:Barrett was a native of the...
. However a power struggle broke out and Billy Kennedy, Tommy Lyttle's brother in law, briefly assumed the role of West Belfast Brigadier. Spence however was released from prison in October and he immediately assumed the role of Brigadier for himself, appointing Johnny Adair to the role of military commander.
As brigadier Spence had overall command of the UDA in West Belfast although the bloody trail being waged by Adair as military commander meant that the supposed deputy was gaining most of the attnetion. By late 1991 Spence had begun to resent the power and influence enjoyed by Adair and he feared that C Company, which remained Adair's main power base, had become financially independent of the West Belfast Brigade. Spence was pleased when Adair's Langley Street Social Club, a major source of income, was raided by police and put out of business but his anxiety was raised further when Adair began to talk of targeting members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...
(RUC), something that was generally an anathema to loyalists. Ultimately however Spence and Adair remained close friends and as a result the brigadier was able to persuade his second in command to abandon plans to kill police. Indeed their friendship was so close that during the summer of 1993 the pair went on holiday together with their families to Tenerife
Tenerife
Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...
.
Whilst Adair had taken care of the killing side in West Belfast Spence had concentrated on the moneymaking elements of the UDA and had built up a large network of extortion and racketeering. Spence was arrested on charges of extortion in March 1993, and as was the established procedure, he was forced to relinquish his position as Brigadier. As a consequence Johnny Adair immediately succeeded Spence as West Belfast Brigadier.
Spence and Adair
From prison Spence became increasingly angry at the violence of Adair, particularly the killing of Noel Cardwell by C Company in December 1993. Cardwell was a glass collector at the Diamond Jubilee Bar with a mental age of 12 who liked to be around the C Company top men. They in turn viewed Cardwell as a harmless figure of fun. In December 1993 Cardwell was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital, BelfastRoyal Victoria Hospital, Belfast
The Royal Victoria Hospital is a hospital in Belfast, Northern Ireland....
after suffering a bad reaction when his drink was spiked with an ecstasy tablet by a member of C Company. Whilst in the hospital he was visited by members of the RUC who asked him who he had been drinking with. Cardwell named the UDA members he was with, having failed to grasp the code of secrecy governing the UDA. In order to send a message to informers Adair had Cardwell abducted following his release from hospital and subjected to a long and brutal interrogation process. He was shot and left to bleed to death with C Company member Gary McMaster later sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the murder. Spence reacted to the killing with disgust, considering Cardwell to be harmless, and along with Matt Kincaid even concocted a plot to have a gun placed in Adair's house in order that he would be imprisoned with them to give them a chance to reason with him. Ultimately the plan was not enacted as Adair remained a hugely popular figure on the Shankill despite the killing. However Spence, or "Spencer" as he was known locally, remained an ally of Adair and following his release in the mid 1990s returned to influence under new brigadier Winkie Dodds, whom Adair had appointed in his stead following his own arrest. Spence attended the wedding of Adair and Gina Crossan, held in prison, on 21 February 1997. Like Adair, Spence also advocated a closer relationship with the emerging Loyalist Volunteer Force
Loyalist Volunteer Force
The Loyalist Volunteer Force is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed by Billy Wright in 1996 when he and the Portadown unit of the Ulster Volunteer Force's Mid-Ulster Brigade was stood down by the UVF leadership. He had been the commander of the Mid-Ulster Brigade. The...
(LVF) and Spence personally enjoyed a close relationship with Jackie Mahood, a former member of the Ulster Volunteer Force
Ulster Volunteer Force
The Ulster Volunteer Force is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in late 1965 or early 1966 and named after the Ulster Volunteer Force of 1913. The group's volunteers undertook an armed campaign of almost thirty years during The Troubles...
(UVF) who was allied to the LVF leader Billy Wright
Billy Wright (loyalist)
William Stephen "Billy" Wright was a prominent Ulster loyalist during the period of violent religious/political conflict known as "The Troubles". He joined the Ulster Volunteer Force in 1975 and became commander of its Mid-Ulster Brigade in the early 1990s...
and who tried to convince the Portadown
Portadown
Portadown is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about 23 miles south-west of Belfast...
-based leader to take control of the UVF as a whole.
Following Adair's release and return to the role of Brigadier he attempted to involve Spence, back in command of B Company, in his 2000 feud with the UVF. On 21 August the UVF had shot and killed two of Adair's allies, Jackie Coulter and Bobby Mahood, whilst they sat in a car on the Crumlin Road
Crumlin Road
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.-Lower Crumlin Road:...
. Soon afterwards Adair saw Progressive Unionist Party
Progressive Unionist Party
The Progressive Unionist Party is a small unionist political party in Northern Ireland. It was formed from the Independent Unionist Group operating in the Shankill area of Belfast, becoming the PUP in 1979...
spokesman Billy Hutchinson
Billy Hutchinson
Billy Hutchinson is the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party in Northern Ireland. He was elected to Belfast City Council in 1997 and to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998. He lost his assembly seat in 2003 and his council seat in 2005...
on television and immediately rang Spence and told him to "shoot the fucker...right now". Spence intimated that he would although he had no desire to become involved in the feud whilst Adair did not realise that Spence's phone had been bugged by Special Branch who heard the entire conversation. Spence was particularly wary of provoking open conflict with the UVF as, unlike Adair's Lower Shankill stronghold, the Woodvale area was solid UVF turf and for a spell the social club Spence and B Company ran on Heather Street had to be guarded by soldiers of the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
due to anticipation of an attack. No attack on Hutchinson took place and Adair was returned to jail soon afterwards, the feud ending as a result.
Fall of Adair
In June 2002 an episode of the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
programme Panorama
Panorama (TV series)
Panorama is a BBC Television current affairs documentary programme, which was first broadcast in 1953, and is the longest-running public affairs television programme in the world. Panorama has been presented by many well known BBC presenters, including Richard Dimbleby, Robin Day, David Dimbleby...
was broadcast in which Nelson's claims linking Spence to the Pat Finucane killing were broadcast. It was not the first time that such allegations had been made as rumours that Spence was an informer had surfaced regularly. The suggestion that Spence was a high-ranking informer raised some anger and for Mo Courtney the only solution was to kill Spence. Adair refused to sanction the killing, as he remained on good terms with Spence and felt that he was loyal, and the incident helped to drive a wedge between Adair and Courtney. Adair finally broke from Spence in 2003 when South Belfast Brigadier Jackie McDonald
Jackie McDonald
John "Jackie" McDonald is a senior Northern Irish loyalist and the incumbent Ulster Defence Association 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...
purged the Shankill of C Company and Adair's supporters. Adair reacted by denouncing Spence as a "liar and a tout" in a carefully orchestrated media campaign over the following months. Spence, who had tired of Adair's extremism, had helped to facilitate McDonald's assault on the Lower Shankill.
Subsequent activity
Spence was loyal to the new regime on the Shankill and in late 2003 he once again took over as Brigadier in West Belfast when Adair's replacement, Spence's old rival Mo Courtney, was arrested. By early 2004 he had officially vacated this role as the constant press attacks from Adair began to damage his credibility and a comeback by Adair began to look a distinct possibility. Ultimately however this did not materialise and when Adair left prison the following year he immediately left for BoltonBolton
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
, where his followers had fled to in 2003. Spence meanwhile had in fact remained as Brigadier and was still in the role by November 2004.
In 2006 the Daily Ireland
Daily Ireland
Daily Ireland was an Irish daily newspaper which existed from January 2005 to September 2006 to cover news stories from an Irish republican viewpoint. It was linked to the Belfast local newspaper, the Andersonstown News...
reported that the UDA intended to expel Spence, as part of a move aimed at removing a number of "undesirables" including the Shoukri brothers, whose presence was seen as damaging the UDA's chances of securing government funding for its projects. The paper reported that there was a reluctance amongst the leadership to oust Spence however as he controlled the finances in West Belfast and would be likely to abscond with much of their money. Rumours that Spence was to be stood down had in fact first appeared in the paper as early as April 2005. However Spence was replaced as Brigadier in 2006 by fellow long-term activist Matt Kincaid.
Spence was recorded most recently in March 2011 as part of a publicly-funded trip to Auschwitz where he accompanied other veteran loyalists such as Courtney and Billy "Twister" McQuiston
Billy "Twister" McQuiston
William "Billy" McQuiston, also known as Twister" William "Billy" McQuiston, also known as Twister" William "Billy" McQuiston, also known as Twister" (born c.1958 in Belfast, Northern Ireland is a former loyalist, who was a high-ranking member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). Leader of the...
on a trip to learn about Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
culture. Allegations however appeared in the press that Spence and his fellow loyalists actually spent most of their time at bars and strip clubs.