Robin Jackson
Encyclopedia
Robert John "Robin" Jackson, known as the Jackal (27 September 1948 – 30 May 1998) was a Northern Irish
loyalist who held the rank of brigadier
in the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) during the period of violent religious and political conflict in Northern Ireland
known as the Troubles
.
From his home in the small village of Donaghcloney
, County Down
, located five miles southeast of Lurgan
, he is alleged to have organised and committed a series of killings against the Catholic nationalist
and republican
community, although he was never convicted in connection with any killing and never served any lengthy prison terms. At least 50 killings in Northern Ireland have been attributed to him, according to Stephen Howe in the New Statesman
and David McKittrick
in his book Lost Lives, whereas the Pat Finucane Centre
has linked him to over 100. An article by Paul Foot
in Private Eye
suggested that Jackson led one of the teams that bombed Dublin on 17 May 1974
, killing 26 people, including two infants. RUC
Special Patrol Group
(SPG) officer John Weir
, himself a convicted murderer, also maintained this in a sworn affidavit
which was published in 2003 in the Barron Report, which was the findings of an official investigation into the Dublin bombings commissioned by Irish Supreme Court Justice Henry Barron. Journalist Kevin Dowling in the Irish Independent
alleged that Jackson had headed the gang that perpetrated the Miami Showband killings
which left three members of the Irish cabaret band dead and two wounded. Journalist Joe Tiernan and the Pat Finucane Centre also alleged this as well as his implication in the Dublin bombings. When questioned about the latter, Jackson denied involvement.
Jackson was a former member of the Ulster Defence Regiment
(UDR), but had been expelled from the regiment for undisclosed reasons. It was stated by Weir, as well as by other people including former British soldier and psychological warfare
operative Major Colin Wallace
, that he was an RUC Special Branch
agent. It was also said he had links to British Military Intelligence and Captain Robert Nairac
.
Originally nicknamed "Jacko", he received his later soubriquet, "the Jackal" from Belfast editor Jim Campbell of the Sunday World
. Campbell survived a shooting in 1984 by members of the notorious Belfast loyalist gang, the Shankill Butchers
; carried out allegedly on behalf of Jackson, whose paramilitary activities had been scrutinised and exposed by Campbell.
, Northern Ireland on 27 September 1948. At an unknown time, he went to live in the largely Protestant village of Donaghcloney
, County Down
, located five miles southeast of Lurgan
, County Armagh
. He made a living by delivering chickens for the Moy Park food processing company.
The violent religious and political conflict known as The Troubles
erupted in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s, and people from both sides of the religious/political divide were soon caught up in the maelstrom of violence that ensued. In October 1972 in Lurgan, Jackson, like many other Protestant loyalists in response to escalating Provisional IRA
attacks, joined the Ulster Defence Regiment
(UDR). The UDR was a locally recruited infantry regiment of the British Army
in Northern Ireland. It was at this time that a large cache of weapons was stolen during an armed raid by loyalist paramilitaries on King's Park camp, a UDR/TA depot. It is opined by the Pat Finucane Centre
, a Derry
-based civil rights group, that he took part in the raid. Journalist Scott Jamison also echoed this allegation in an article in the North Belfast News. When Jackson was expelled from the regiment for undisclosed reasons, he joined the illegal loyalist paramilitary organisation, the Ulster Volunteer Force
(UVF) as a member of the Mid-Ulster Brigade
's Lurgan unit. As the IRA continued to wage its militant campaign across Northern Ireland, many loyalists felt their community was being threatened and sought to retaliate with equal violence against Catholic nationalists
and republicans
by joining one of the two main loyalist paramilitary organisations, the illegal UVF or the legal Ulster Defence Association
(UDA). The proscription against the UVF was lifted by Merlyn Rees, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
, on 4 April 1974. It remained a legal organisation until 3 October 1975, when it was once again banned by the British Government.
Subsequent to his alleged killing of leader Billy Hanna
on 27 July 1975, Journalist Joe Tiernan suggested that Jackson killed Hanna on account of the latter's refusal to participate in the Miami Showband killings
. Hanna apparently suffered remorse following the 1974 Dublin bombings
, as he is believed by Tiernan to have instructed one of the bombers, David Alexander Mulholland
to drive the car which exploded in Parnell Street, where two infant girls were among those killed. According to Tiernan and page 61 of the Barron Report 2003, David Alexander Mulholland was identified by three eyewitnesses. Tiernan also suggested that Hanna and Mulholland became informers for the Gardai regarding the car bombings in exchange for immunity from prosecution. He added that although the British Army was aware of this, Robin Jackson was never told, as it was feared he would decide to become an informer himself. Investigative journalist Paul Larkin, on page 182 of his book A Very British Jihad: collusion, conspiracy, and cover-up in Northern Ireland maintained that Jackson, accompanied by Harris Boyle, had shot Hanna after learning that he had passed on information regarding the Dublin bombings. Martin Dillon also claims this in The Trigger Men (p.25). Dillon also stated on page 219 in The Dirty War that because a number of UDR/UVF men were to be used for the planned Miami Showband attack, the UVF considered Hanna to have been a "security risk", and therefore it had been necessary to kill him. David McKittrick in Lost Lives, however suggested that Jackson had actually killed Hanna in order to obtain a cache of weapons the latter held. Jackson later admitted that it had been "unfair to kill him". McKittrick. Lost Lives. p.555 Jackson assumed command of the Mid-Ulster Brigade. The UVF had drawn its greatest strength as well as the organisation's most ruthless members from its Mid-Ulster Brigade according to Irish journalist Brendan O'Brien. Operating mainly around the Lurgan and Portadown
areas, the Mid-Ulster Brigade had been set up in 1972 in Lurgan by Hanna, who appointed himself commander. His leadership was endorsed by the UVF's supreme commander Gusty Spence
. This unit formed part of the "Glenanne gang
", a loose alliance of loyalist extremists which allegedly functioned under the direction of British Military Intelligence and/or RUC Special Branch. It comprised rogue elements of the regular British Army
, the RUC and its Special Patrol Group
(SPG), the UDR, the UDA, as well as the UVF.
The Pat Finucane Centre in collaboration with an international panel of inquiry (headed by Professor Douglass Cassel, formerly of Northwestern University School of Law
) has implicated this gang in 87 killings which were carried out in the 1970s against the Catholic nationalist and republican community. The name, first used in 2003, is derived from a farm in Glenanne, County Armagh, which the UVF regularly used as an arms dump and bomb-making site. It was owned by James Mitchell
, an RUC reservist. Weir named Jackson as a key player in the Glenanne gang.
He also had close ties to loyalist extremists from Dungannon
such as brothers John James and Wesley Somerville
.
who was gunned down on his doorstep. Jackson's words after he was charged with the killing were: "Nothing. I just can't believe it". Campbell's wife had opened the door to the gunman and his accomplice when they had come looking for her husband. She had got a good look at the two men. And although she identified Jackson as the killer at an identity parade, murder charges against him were dropped on 4 January 1974 at Belfast
Magistrates' Court
. The charges were allegedly withdrawn because the RUC thought Mrs. Campbell knew him beforehand. Jackson, in fact confirmed this, saying that they had met previously on account that he worked in the same Banbridge shoe factory (Down Shoes Ltd.) as Patrick Campbell. It was suggested in David McKittrick
's Lost Lives that some time before the shooting there may have been a "minor political disagreement" between Jackson and Campbell while the two men were on a night out. Raymond Murray in his book The SAS in Ireland suggested that his accomplice in the shooting was Wesley Somerville.
Special Patrol Group
officer John Weir
, himself a convicted murderer, stated in a sworn affidavit that Robin Jackson was one of those who had planned and carried out the Dublin car bombings
. According to Weir, Jackson, along with the main organiser Billy Hanna and Davy Payne
(UDA, Belfast), led one of the two UVF units that bombed Dublin on 17 May 1974 in three separate explosions, resulting in the deaths of 26 people, including two infant girls. Close to 300 others were injured in the blasts; many of them maimed and scarred for life. The bombings took place on the third day of the Ulster Workers Council Strike, which was a general strike in Northern Ireland called by unionists
and hard-line loyalists in protest against the Sunningdale Agreement
and the Northern Ireland Assembly
which had proposed their sharing political power with nationalists
and planned a greater role for the Republic of Ireland in the governance of Northern Ireland. In 2003, Weir's information was published in the Barron Report, which was the findings of an official investigation into the bombings by Irish Supreme Court Justice Henry Barron. Justice Barron concluded Weir's "evidence overall is credible". "An article by Paul Foot in Private Eye also implicated Jackson in the bombings. The producers of the 1993 Yorkshire Television documentary, The Hidden Hand: The Forgotten Massacre, dilatorily named Jackson as one of the bombers, however three of his alleged accomplices Billy Hanna, Harris Boyle
, and Robert McConnell
were directly named. Although the incriminating evidence against Jackson had comprised eight hours of recorded testimony which came from one of his purported chief accomplices in the bombings, the programme did not name him directly during the transmission as the station did not want to risk an accusation of libel. The programme's narrator instead referred to him as "the Jackal". Hanna, Boyle, and McConnell were deceased at the time of the programme's airing.
According to submissions received by Mr. Justice Barron, on the morning of 17 May 1974, the day of the bombings, Jackson collected the three bombs and placed them onto his poultry lorry at James Mitchell's farm in Glenanne, County Armagh, which had been used for the construction and storage of the devices.
He then drove across the Republic of Ireland's border down to Dublin crossing the Boyne River
at Oldbridge. The route had been well-rehearsed over the previous months. Billy Hanna, who was at the time the Mid-Ulster UVF's commander and the principal organiser of the attacks, had accompanied him. At the Coachman's Inn pub carpark on the Swords Road near Dublin Airport
, the two men met up with the other members of the UVF bombing team. Jackson and Hanna subsequently transferred the bombs from his lorry into the boots of three allocated cars, which had been hijacked and stolen that morning in Belfast. The Hidden Hand producers named William "Frenchie" Marchant
of the UVF's A Coy, 1st Battalion Belfast Brigade as having been on a Garda
list of suspects as the organiser of the hijackings in Belfast on the morning of the bombings. The cars, after being obtained by the gang of hijackers, known as "Freddie and the Dreamers", were driven from Belfast across the border to the carpark, retaining their original registration numbers. Journalist Joe Tiernan suggested that the bombs were activated by Billy Hanna. Sometime before 4.00 p.m., Jackson and Hanna headed back to Northern Ireland in the poultry lorry after the latter had given the final instructions to the drivers of the car bombs. Upon their return, Jackson and Hanna went back to the soup kitchen they were running at a Mourneville, Lurgan bingo hall. With the UWC strike in its third day, it was extremely difficult for people throughout Northern Ireland to obtain necessities such as food. Neither man's absence had been noticed by the other helpers.
Following Hanna's orders, the three car bombs (two of them escorted by a "scout" [lead] car, to be used for the bombers' escape back across the Northern Ireland border) were driven into the city centre of Dublin where they detonated in Parnell Street
, Talbot Street
, and South Leinster Street, almost simultaneously at approximately 5.30 pm. No warnings were given. The bombs had been so well constructed that one hundred per cent of each bomb exploded upon detonation. Twenty-three people were killed outright in the blasts, including a pregnant woman and her unborn child; three more people would later die of their injuries. The bodies of the dead were mostly unrecognisable. One girl who had been near the epicentre of the Talbot Street explosion was decapitated; only her platform boots provided a clue as to her sex. The bombers immediately fled from the destruction they had wrought in central Dublin in the two scout cars and made their way north using the "smuggler's route" of minor and back roads, crossing the border near Hackballs Cross, County Louth
at about 7.30 pm Thirty minutes earlier in Monaghan
, an additional seven people were killed instantly or fatally injured by a fourth car bomb which had been delivered by a team from the Mid-Ulster UVF's Portadown unit. According to Joe Tiernan, this attack was carried out to draw the Gardai away from the border, enabling the Dublin bombers to cross back into Northern Ireland undetected.
Jackson was questioned following the Yorkshire Television programme, and he denied any involvement in the Dublin attacks. His name had appeared on a Garda list of suspects for the bombings. Hanna's name was on both the Garda and the RUC's list of suspects; however, neither of the two men were ever arrested or interrogated in connection with the bombings. The submissions made to the Barron Inquiry also stated that one week before the Dublin attacks, Jackson and others had been stopped at a Garda checkpoint at Hackballs Cross.
As it turned out, nobody was ever convicted of the car bombings. Years later, British journalist Peter Taylor
in an interview with Progressive Unionist Party
(PUP) politician and former senior Belfast UVF member David Ervine
questioned him about UVF motives for the 1974 Dublin attacks. Ervine replied they [UVF] were "returning the serve". Ervine, although he had not participated in the bombings, explained that the UVF had wanted the Catholics across the border in the Irish Republic to suffer as Protestants in Northern Ireland had suffered on account of the intensive bombing campaign waged by the Provisional IRA.
On 28 May 1974, 11 days after the bombings, the UWC strike ended with the collapse of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the power-sharing Executive
.
in Mullyash, near Castleblayney
, County Monaghan
. On the evening of 10 January 1975, gunmen kicked down the front door of the "safe" house Green was staying in and finding him alone in the living room immediately opened fire, shooting him six times in the head at close range. The bullets all entered from the front, which indicated that Green had been facing his killers. The UVF claimed responsibility for the killing in the June 1975 edition of its magazine Combat. Green's killing occurred during an IRA ceasefire, which had been declared the previous month.
on 31 July 1975, which left band members Brian McCoy, Anthony Geraghty, and Fran O'Toole dead. Two others, Stephen Travers and Des McAlea, were wounded. Harris Boyle and Wesley Somerville, members of both the UDR and Mid-Ulster UVF, were accidentally blown up after they had loaded a bomb into the back of the band's minibus which had been parked in a lay-by. The minibus (driven by trumpeter Brian McCoy) had been flagged-down by UVF men wearing British Army uniforms at a bogus roadside military checkpoint on the main A1 road
as the band was returning home to Dublin after a performance in Banbridge
. Following the premature detonation, which ripped the vehicle in half, the band members were then gunned down by the surviving UVF men. Jackson had assumed command of the Mid-Ulster UVF just a few days before the attack, when he allegedly shot commander Billy Hanna to death outside his home in Lurgan in the early hours of 27 July. Harris Boyle had reportedly accompanied Jackson to the shooting. Hanna was shot twice in the head; once in the temple and afterwards in the back of the head, execution style. Jackson had afterwards attended Hanna's funeral, where he was photographed standing beside Wesley Somerville. In August 1975, Jackson was taken in and questioned by the RUC as a suspect in the Miami Showband killings; he was subsequently released without facing any charges. In October 1976, two serving members of the UDR (Thomas Crozier and James McDowell) received life sentences for the killings. A third man, former UDR soldier, John James Somerville was sentenced to life imprisonment in November 1981.
After his arrest, Jackson accused two CID
Detective Constables, Norman Carlisle and Raymond Buchanan, of having physically assaulted him on 7 August 1975 while he had been in police custody at Bessbrook
RUC Station. Although medical evidence presented at the trial of the accused Detective Constables raised the possibility that Jackson's injuries were self-inflicted, on 23 December 1975 a magistrate upheld the charge against the two CID men and they were fined £10 each.
On 11 June 1975, more than a month prior to the Miami Showband killings, Jackson, his brother-in-law, Samuel Fulton Neill, and Thomas Crozier had been arrested for the possession of four shotguns. Neill's car was later used in the Showband ambush. Neill was fatally shot in Portadown on 25 January 1976 allegedly by Jackson for having passed on information to the RUC about the people involved in the Showband attack. The Douglass Cassel panel of inquiry stated that it was unclear why Jackson, Crozier, and Neill had not been in police custody at the time the Showband killings took place. The panel 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". Former British soldier and psychological warfare
operative Major Colin Wallace
stated that he was told in 1974 that Jackson was working as an agent for the RUC's Special Branch. He confirmed this allegation in a letter written to a colleague dated 14 August 1975 in which he named Jackson as an RUC Special Branch agent.
. The Hidden Hand alleged that Jackson and his UVF comrades were controlled by Nairac who was attached to 14th Intelligence Company (The Det). Former MI6 operative, Captain Fred Holroyd claimed that Nairac admitted to having been involved in John Francis Green's death and had shown Holroyd a colour polaroid photograph of Green's corpse to back up his claim. Holroyd believed that for some months leading up to his shooting, Green had been kept under surveillance by 4 Field Survey Troop, Royal Engineers, one of the three sub-units of 14th Intelligence. This unit was based in Castledillon, County Armagh, and according to Holroyd, was the cover name of an SAS troop commanded by Nairac and Captain Julian Antony "Tony" Ball. Nairac was himself abducted and killed by the IRA in 1977, and Ball was killed in an accident in Oman
in 1981. Justice Barron himself questioned Holroyd's evidence as a result of two later Garda investigations, where Detective Inspector Culhane discounted Holroyd's allegations regarding Nairac and the polaroid photograph. Culhane concluded that the latter had been one of a series of official photographs taken of Green's body the morning following his killing by Detective Sergeant William Stratford, who worked in the Garda Technical Bureau
's Photography Section.
Weir made the following statements in relation to Jackson and Nairac's alleged mutual involvement in the Green assassination:
In his 1989 book War Without Honour, Holyroyd claimed that Nairac had organised the Miami Showband ambush in collaboration with Jackson, and had also been present at Buskhill when the attack was carried out. Bassist Stephen Travers and saxophonist Des McAlea, the two bandmembers who survived the shootings, both testified in court that a British Army officer "with a crisp, clipped English accent" had overseen the operation. However, when shown a photograph of Nairac, Travers could not positively identify him as the soldier who had been at the scene. Author Martin Dillon in The Dirty War adamantly stated that Nairac had not been involved in the Green killing nor in the Miami Showband massacre.
The Barron Report noted that although Weir maintained that Jackson and Billy Hanna had links to Nairac and British Military Intelligence, his claim did not imply that the British Army or Military Intelligence had aided the two men in the planning and perpetration of the 1974 Dublin bombings. While in prison, Weir wrote a letter to a friend claiming that Nairac had ties to both Jackson and James Mitchell, owner of the Glenanne farm.
The 2006 Interim Report of Mr. Justice Barron's inquiry into the Dundalk bombing of 1975 (see below) concluded that Jackson was one of the suspected bombers "reliably said to have had relationships with British Intelligence and or RUC Special Branch officers".
; Jackson was linked to the 9mm Sterling submachine gun used in the killings. "Glenanne gang" member Garnet Busby pleaded guilty to the killings and was sentenced to life imprisonment. John Weir claimed that Jackson led the group who bombed Kay's Tavern pub in Dundalk
on 19 December 1975, which killed two men. Mr. Justice Barron implicated the "Glenanne gang" in the bombing, however, Jackson was not identified by any eyewitnesses at or in the vicinity of Kay's Tavern. Gardai received information from a reliable source that Jackson and his car - a Vauxhall Viva with the registration number CIA 2771 - were involved in the bombing; yet there were no witnesses who reported having seen the car. The RUC stated that Jackson had been observed celebrating at a Banbridge bar at 9.00 pm on the evening of the attack in the company of other loyalist extremists. The implication was that they were celebrating the Kay's Tavern bombing.
families in County Armagh leaving a total of five men dead and one injured. Weir maintained that it was Jackson who shot 61-year-old Joseph O'Dowd and his two nephews, Barry and Declan, to death at a family celebration in Ballydougan
, near Gilford; although Jackson had not been at the scene where the Reavey brothers had been killed twenty minutes earlier. The day after the double killing, ten Protestant workmen were gunned down
by the South Armagh Republican Action Force
who ambushed their minibus near the village of Kingsmill
. The shootings were in retaliation for the O'Dowd and Reavey killings. The Glenanne gang made plans to avenge the Kingsmill victims with an attack on St Lawrence O'Toole Primary School at Belleeks. This plan, which involved the killing of at least 30 schoolchildren and their teacher, was called off at the last minute by the UVF's Brigade Staff (Belfast leadership), who considered it "morally unacceptable" and feared it would have led to a civil war.
Based on the description given by Barney O'Dowd, a survivor of the shooting attack at Ballydougan, one of the weapons used in the O'Dowd killings was a Luger with an attached silencer. In May 1976, Jackson's fingerprints were discovered on insulating tape wrapped around a home-made silencer for a Luger pistol. Both the silencer and pistol were found by the security forces at the home of a man by the name of Edward Sinclair. Although Jackson was charged, he managed to avoid conviction, with the judge having reportedly said: "At the end of the day I find that the accused somehow touched the silencer, but the Crown evidence has left me completely in the dark as to whether he did that wittingly or unwittingly, willingly or unwillingly". As a result of the judicious examination of forensic ballistics procured from original RUC reports and presented to Justice Barron, the 9mm Luger pistol serial no. U 4 to which the silencer was attached was established as having been the same one used in the Miami Showband and John Francis Green killings. According to journalist Tom McGurk, Miami Showband trumpeter Brian McCoy was shot nine times in the back with a Luger pistol. The Luger pistol serial no.U 4 was later destroyed by the RUC on 28 August 1978. Barney O'Dowd claimed that RUC detectives in the 1980s admitted to him that Jackson had been the man who shot the three O'Dowd men, but the evidence had not been sufficient to charge him with the killings.
Weir stated in his affidavit that on one occasion sometime after he was transferred to Newry RUC station in October 1976, Jackson, himself, and another RUC officer and "Glenanne gang" member, Gary Armstrong went on a reconnaissance in south Armagh seeking out the homes of known IRA members, with the aim of assassinating them. Jackson, according to Weir, carried a knife and hammer, and boasted to Weir that if they happened to "find a suitable person to kill", he [Jackson] "knew how to do it with those weapons". They approached the houses of two IRA men; however, the plan to attack them was aborted and they drove back to Lurgan. They were stopped at an RUC roadblock near the Republic of Ireland border, but the three men were waved through, after an exchange of courtesies, despite the presence of Jackson in the car with two RUC officers.
He was implicated by Weir in the killing of Catholic chemist, William Strathearn, who was shot at his home in Ahoghill
, County Antrim
after two men knocked on his door at 2.00 am on 19 April 1977 claiming to need medicine for a sick child. Strathearn lived above his chemist's shop. Weir was one of the RUC men later convicted of the killing, along with his SPG colleague, Billy McCaughey
, and he named Jackson as having been the gunman, alleging that Jackson had told him after the shooting that he had shot Strathearn twice when the latter opened the door. Weir and McCaughey had waited in Weir's car while the shooting was carried out. The gun that Jackson used had been given to him by McCaughey, with the instructions that he was only to fire through an upstairs window to frighten the occupants and make sure they "got the message", and not to kill anyone. As in the Dublin bombings, Jackson's poultry lorry was also employed on this occasion, specifically to transport himself and Robert John "R.J." Kerr
– another alleged accomplice – to and from the scene of the crime. After the killing, Jackson and Kerr went on to deliver a load of chickens. Kerr was Jackson's lorry helper, who assisted him in loading and unloading the chickens Jackson sold for a living.
Jackson was never questioned about the killing. According to an RUC detective, he was not interrogated for "reasons of operational strategy". Weir suggested that "Jackson was untouchable because he was an RUC Special Branch agent." The Barron Report stated that Weir had made an offer to testify against Jackson and Robert John "R.J". Kerr, but only on the condition that the murder charge against him was withdrawn. This offer was refused by the Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions who said
It is noted in the Barron Report that Northern Ireland's Lord Chief Justice Robert Lowry
was aware of Jackson and Kerr's involvement in the Strathearn killing, and that they were not prosecuted for "operational reasons". Mr. Justice Barron was highly critical of the RUC's failure to properly investigate Jackson.
Weir declared "I think it is important to make it clear that this collusion between loyalist paramilitaries such as Robin Jackson and my RUC colleagues and me was taking place with the full knowledge of my superiors".
Journalist Liam Clarke alleged that in about early 1978, Weir and Jackson travelled to Castleblaney with the intention of kidnapping IRA man Dessie O'Hare
from the "The Spinning Wheel" pub he frequented. However, when Jackson and Weir arrived, they discovered the publican had been warned of the kidnap plot and they were ordered to leave the premises.
Jackson's only conviction
came about after he was arrested on 16 October 1979 when a .22 pistol, a .38 revolver, a magazine, 13 rounds of ammunition, and hoods
were found in his possession. He was remanded in custody to Crumlin Road Prison in Belfast to await trial. On 20 January 1981, Jackson was brought before the Belfast Crown Court
on charges of possession of guns and ammunition, and was sentenced to seven years in prison. He was, however, released on 12 May 1983.
He reportedly perpetrated his last killings in March 1991, with the fatal shootings of three Catholics, Eileen Duffy, Catriona Rennie, and Brian Frizzell
, at a mobile shop in Craigavon
. Two of the victims were teenage girls. Weir's affidavit contradicted this as it pointed out that although Jackson was aware that the killings were to take place, he had not been at the scene of the crime; a solicitor informed Weir he had been with Jackson at his home at the time the shootings occurred to provide him with an alibi. Author Sean McPhilemy and the Pat Finucane Centre both believed that Jackson went on killing people until 1996.
, dubbed Jackson the "'Lord High Executioner' of the North's notorious murder triangle", adding that he was infamous from Belfast to the Irish border for "the intensity and fury of his instinct to kill".
Intelligence officers personally acquainted with Jackson stated that he was a psychopath who would often dress up and attend the funerals of his victims because he felt a need "to make sure they were dead." Described as having been a sardonic man who was extremely dedicated; physically he was "small, but firmly-built". Suspicious by nature, he repeatedly advised his associates that they should never reveal secret information to anybody.
Psychological warfare operative Major Colin Wallace confirmed the allegations, stating that
by the security forces.
Liam Clarke of the Sunday Times made the following statements regarding Jackson and his reported special relationship with the security forces and military intelligence:
Originally nicknamed "Jacko", Jackson was given the more sinister soubriquet, "the Jackal" by Sunday World newspaper's Northern Ireland editor Jim Campbell when he investigated and exposed Jackson's alleged paramilitary activities – including his involvement in the Miami Showband killings – and links to British Military Intelligence. In retaliation, Jackson reportedly approached members of the violent loyalist Shankill Butchers
gang in Belfast, who (at Jackson's request) shot and seriously wounded Campbell on 18 May 1984.
The Irish Times reported that the SAS
took Jackson abroad where he received specialist training. In the late 1980s, he was also sent by MI5
to South Africa and Australia in order to buy weapons that were shipped back to loyalist paramilitaries and Ulster Resistance
in Northern Ireland. Journalist Joe Gorrod of The Mirror wrote that Jackson kept hidden files that incriminated the politicians and businessmen who were involved with Jackson in the loyalist arms shipments. These documents, which were kept with a friend, ensured him that he would never be sentenced to a lengthy imprisonment.
In the early 1990s, he handed over command of the Mid-Ulster UVF to Billy Wright
, who formed the Loyalist Volunteer Force
(LVF) in 1996. This was after Wright and the Portadown unit of the Mid-Ulster Brigade had been stood down by the UVF's Brigade Staff in Belfast on 2 August 1996, following the unsanctioned killing of a Catholic taxi driver by members of Wright's brigade outside Lurgan during the Drumcree disturbances
when the UVF were on ceasefire
. Although Wright took the officially-disbanded Portadown unit with him to form the LVF, Jackson remained loyal to the UVF leadership as did most of the other Mid-Ulster Brigade units.
According to journalist and author Ed Moloney
the UVF campaign in Mid Ulster "indisputably shattered Republican morale".
Jackson was confronted in 1998 by the son of Catholic RUC Sergeant Joe Campbell who was gunned down outside the Cushendall
, Co. Antrim RUC station in February 1977 as he was locking up. It was rumoured that Jackson had been the hitman
sent to shoot Campbell on behalf of an RUC Special Branch officer. Weir, in his affidavit claimed that Jackson, prior to Campbell's shooting, had informed him of the RUC officer's request. Jackson, by then dying of cancer, told Campbell's son that he had not been involved in the killing. The UVF, at a secret meeting with journalists, confirmed that he had no hand in Sergeant Campbell's death. The case was later placed under investigation by the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland.
Journalist Martin O'Hagan
had been in the process of writing a book about Jackson but his assassination by the Red Hand Defenders
(RHD) in 2001 prevented its completion. Along with Billy Hanna and other senior loyalists, Jackson was commemorated in the UVF song Battalion of the Dead. In May 2010, angry relatives of UVF victims unsuccessfully sought the removal of the song from YouTube.
Jackson is the subject of a tune by Glasgow
-based The Sons of Ulster Flute Band which is entitled Volunteer
Robin Jackson; some of the members of the flute band had been his friends.
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...
loyalist who held the rank of brigadier
Brigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
in the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) during the period of violent religious and political conflict in Northern Ireland
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...
known as the Troubles
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...
.
From his home in the small village of Donaghcloney
Donaghcloney
Donaghcloney or Donacloney is a small village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Lagan between Lurgan, Dromore and Banbridge. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 972.-Linen industry:...
, County Down
County Down
-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...
, located five miles southeast of Lurgan
Lurgan
Lurgan is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is near the southern shore of Lough Neagh and in the north-eastern corner of the county. Part of the Craigavon Borough Council area, Lurgan is about 18 miles south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway...
, he is alleged to have organised and committed a series of killings against the Catholic nationalist
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
and republican
Irish Republicanism
Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.In 1801, under the Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
community, although he was never convicted in connection with any killing and never served any lengthy prison terms. At least 50 killings in Northern Ireland have been attributed to him, according to Stephen Howe in the New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
and David McKittrick
David McKittrick
David McKittrick is a Belfast-born journalist who has reported on Northern Ireland since 1971.-Professional career:McKittrick began his career as a reporter for the East Antrim Times. He joined the Irish Times in 1973 as a reporter in Belfast, becoming Northern editor in 1976 and London editor in...
in his book Lost Lives, whereas the Pat Finucane Centre
Pat Finucane Centre
The Pat Finucane Centre is a human rights advocacy and lobbying entity in Northern Ireland. Named in honour of murdered solicitor Pat Finucane, it operates advice centres in Derry and Newry, dealing mainly with complaints from nationalists and republicans...
has linked him to over 100. An article by Paul Foot
Paul Foot
Paul Mackintosh Foot was a British investigative journalist, political campaigner, author, and long-time member of the Socialist Workers Party...
in 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,...
suggested that Jackson led one of the teams that bombed Dublin on 17 May 1974
Dublin and Monaghan Bombings
The Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 17 May 1974 were a series of car bombings in Dublin and Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. The attacks killed 33 civilians and wounded almost 300 – the highest number of casualties in any single day during the conflict known as The Troubles.A loyalist...
, killing 26 people, including two infants. RUC
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...
Special Patrol Group
Special Patrol Group (RUC)
The Special Patrol Group in the Royal Ulster Constabulary was a police unit tasked with counter terrorism. Each SPG had 30 members. Many of the SPG units were accused of collusion with the illegal paramilitary group the Ulster Volunteer Force, particularly the actions of a unit based in Armagh.-A...
(SPG) officer John Weir
John Weir (loyalist)
John Oliver Weir , is an Ulster loyalist born in the Republic of Ireland. He served as an officer in Northern Ireland's Royal Ulster Constabulary's Special Patrol Group , and was a volunteer in the illegal Ulster Volunteer Force...
, himself a convicted murderer, also maintained this in a sworn affidavit
Affidavit
An affidavit is a written sworn statement of fact voluntarily made by an affiant or deponent under an oath or affirmation administered by a person authorized to do so by law. Such statement is witnessed as to the authenticity of the affiant's signature by a taker of oaths, such as a notary public...
which was published in 2003 in the Barron Report, which was the findings of an official investigation into the Dublin bombings commissioned by Irish Supreme Court Justice Henry Barron. Journalist Kevin Dowling in the Irish Independent
Irish Independent
The Irish Independent is Ireland's largest-selling daily newspaper that is published in both compact and broadsheet formats. It is the flagship publication of Independent News & Media.-History:...
alleged that Jackson had headed the gang that perpetrated the Miami Showband killings
Miami Showband killings
The Miami Showband killings was a paramilitary attack at Buskhill, County Down, Northern Ireland, in the early morning of 31 July 1975. It left five people dead at the hands of Ulster Volunteer Force gunmen, including three members of The Miami Showband...
which left three members of the Irish cabaret band dead and two wounded. Journalist Joe Tiernan and the Pat Finucane Centre also alleged this as well as his implication in the Dublin bombings. When questioned about the latter, Jackson denied involvement.
Jackson was a former member of the Ulster Defence Regiment
Ulster Defence Regiment
The Ulster Defence Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army which became operational in 1970, formed on similar lines to other British reserve forces but with the operational role of defence of life or property in Northern Ireland against armed attack or sabotage...
(UDR), but had been expelled from the regiment for undisclosed reasons. It was stated by Weir, as well as by other people including former British soldier and psychological warfare
Psychological warfare
Psychological warfare , or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations , have been known by many other names or terms, including Psy Ops, Political Warfare, “Hearts and Minds,” and Propaganda...
operative Major Colin Wallace
Colin Wallace
John Colin Wallace is a former British soldier and psychological warfare operative who was one of the members of the 'Clockwork Orange' project, which is alleged to have been an attempt to smear a number of British politicians in the early 1970s.-Early life:...
, that he was an RUC 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...
agent. It was also said he had links to British Military Intelligence and Captain Robert Nairac
Robert Nairac
Captain Robert Laurence Nairac GC was a British Army officer who was abducted from a pub in south County Armagh during an undercover operation and killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army on his fourth tour of duty in Northern Ireland as a Military Intelligence Liaison Officer...
.
Originally nicknamed "Jacko", he received his later soubriquet, "the Jackal" from Belfast editor Jim Campbell of the Sunday World
Sunday World
The Sunday World is an Irish newspaper published by Sunday Newspapers Limited, a division of Independent News and Media. It is the largest selling "popular" newspaper in the Republic of Ireland and is also sold in Northern Ireland .-Origins:The Sunday World was Ireland's first tabloid newspaper...
. Campbell survived a shooting in 1984 by members of the notorious Belfast loyalist gang, the Shankill Butchers
Shankill Butchers
The Shankill Butchers is the name given to an Ulster loyalist gang, many of whom were members of the Ulster Volunteer Force . The gang conducted paramilitary activities during the 1970s in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was most notorious for its late-night kidnapping, torture and murder of random...
; carried out allegedly on behalf of Jackson, whose paramilitary activities had been scrutinised and exposed by Campbell.
Ulster Volunteer Force Mid-Ulster Brigade
Jackson was born into a Presbyterian family in the small, predominantly Catholic, village of Donaghmore, County TyroneCounty Tyrone
Historically Tyrone stretched as far north as Lough Foyle, and comprised part of modern day County Londonderry east of the River Foyle. The majority of County Londonderry was carved out of Tyrone between 1610-1620 when that land went to the Guilds of London to set up profit making schemes based on...
, Northern Ireland on 27 September 1948. At an unknown time, he went to live in the largely Protestant village of Donaghcloney
Donaghcloney
Donaghcloney or Donacloney is a small village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Lagan between Lurgan, Dromore and Banbridge. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 972.-Linen industry:...
, County Down
County Down
-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...
, located five miles southeast of Lurgan
Lurgan
Lurgan is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is near the southern shore of Lough Neagh and in the north-eastern corner of the county. Part of the Craigavon Borough Council area, Lurgan is about 18 miles south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway...
, County Armagh
County Armagh
-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...
. He made a living by delivering chickens for the Moy Park food processing company.
The violent religious and political conflict known as The Troubles
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...
erupted in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s, and people from both sides of the religious/political divide were soon caught up in the maelstrom of violence that ensued. In October 1972 in Lurgan, Jackson, like many other Protestant loyalists in response to escalating Provisional IRA
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
attacks, joined the Ulster Defence Regiment
Ulster Defence Regiment
The Ulster Defence Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army which became operational in 1970, formed on similar lines to other British reserve forces but with the operational role of defence of life or property in Northern Ireland against armed attack or sabotage...
(UDR). The UDR was a locally recruited infantry regiment 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...
in Northern Ireland. It was at this time that a large cache of weapons was stolen during an armed raid by loyalist paramilitaries on King's Park camp, a UDR/TA depot. It is opined by the Pat Finucane Centre
Pat Finucane Centre
The Pat Finucane Centre is a human rights advocacy and lobbying entity in Northern Ireland. Named in honour of murdered solicitor Pat Finucane, it operates advice centres in Derry and Newry, dealing mainly with complaints from nationalists and republicans...
, a Derry
Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
-based civil rights group, that he took part in the raid. Journalist Scott Jamison also echoed this allegation in an article in the North Belfast News. When Jackson was expelled from the regiment for undisclosed reasons, he joined the illegal loyalist paramilitary organisation, 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) as a member of the Mid-Ulster Brigade
UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade
UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade formed part of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force in Northern Ireland. The brigade was established in Lurgan, County Armagh in 1972 by its first commander Billy Hanna. The unit operated mainly around the Lurgan and Portadown areas. Subsequent leaders of the...
's Lurgan unit. As the IRA continued to wage its militant campaign across Northern Ireland, many loyalists felt their community was being threatened and sought to retaliate with equal violence against Catholic nationalists
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
and republicans
Irish Republicanism
Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.In 1801, under the Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
by joining one of the two main loyalist paramilitary organisations, the illegal UVF or the legal 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). The proscription against the UVF was lifted by Merlyn Rees, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, informally the Northern Ireland Secretary, is the principal secretary of state in the government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State is a Minister of the Crown who is accountable to the Parliament of...
, on 4 April 1974. It remained a legal organisation until 3 October 1975, when it was once again banned by the British Government.
Subsequent to his alleged killing of leader Billy Hanna
Billy Hanna
William Henry Wilson "Billy" Hanna MM was a high-ranking Northern Irish loyalist who founded and led the Mid-Ulster Brigade of the Ulster Volunteer Force until he was killed, allegedly by Robin Jackson, who took over command of the brigade.According to RUC Special Patrol Group officer John Weir,...
on 27 July 1975, Journalist Joe Tiernan suggested that Jackson killed Hanna on account of the latter's refusal to participate in the Miami Showband killings
Miami Showband killings
The Miami Showband killings was a paramilitary attack at Buskhill, County Down, Northern Ireland, in the early morning of 31 July 1975. It left five people dead at the hands of Ulster Volunteer Force gunmen, including three members of The Miami Showband...
. Hanna apparently suffered remorse following the 1974 Dublin bombings
Dublin and Monaghan Bombings
The Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 17 May 1974 were a series of car bombings in Dublin and Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. The attacks killed 33 civilians and wounded almost 300 – the highest number of casualties in any single day during the conflict known as The Troubles.A loyalist...
, as he is believed by Tiernan to have instructed one of the bombers, David Alexander Mulholland
David Alexander Mulholland
David Alexander Mulholland was a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary, known to the security forces for his alleged involvement in bombing attacks. He was a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force's Mid-Ulster Brigade and was a prime suspect in the 1974 Dublin car bombings...
to drive the car which exploded in Parnell Street, where two infant girls were among those killed. According to Tiernan and page 61 of the Barron Report 2003, David Alexander Mulholland was identified by three eyewitnesses. Tiernan also suggested that Hanna and Mulholland became informers for the Gardai regarding the car bombings in exchange for immunity from prosecution. He added that although the British Army was aware of this, Robin Jackson was never told, as it was feared he would decide to become an informer himself. Investigative journalist Paul Larkin, on page 182 of his book A Very British Jihad: collusion, conspiracy, and cover-up in Northern Ireland maintained that Jackson, accompanied by Harris Boyle, had shot Hanna after learning that he had passed on information regarding the Dublin bombings. Martin Dillon also claims this in The Trigger Men (p.25). Dillon also stated on page 219 in The Dirty War that because a number of UDR/UVF men were to be used for the planned Miami Showband attack, the UVF considered Hanna to have been a "security risk", and therefore it had been necessary to kill him. David McKittrick in Lost Lives, however suggested that Jackson had actually killed Hanna in order to obtain a cache of weapons the latter held. Jackson later admitted that it had been "unfair to kill him". McKittrick. Lost Lives. p.555 Jackson assumed command of the Mid-Ulster Brigade. The UVF had drawn its greatest strength as well as the organisation's most ruthless members from its Mid-Ulster Brigade according to Irish journalist Brendan O'Brien. Operating mainly around the Lurgan and 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...
areas, the Mid-Ulster Brigade had been set up in 1972 in Lurgan by Hanna, who appointed himself commander. His leadership was endorsed by the UVF's supreme commander Gusty Spence
Gusty Spence
Augustus Andrew "Gusty" Spence was a leader of the Ulster Volunteer Force and a leading loyalist politician. One of the first UVF members to be convicted of murder, Spence was a senior figure in the organisation for over a decade but later renounced violence and joined the Progressive Unionist...
. This unit formed part of the "Glenanne gang
Glenanne gang
The Glenanne gang was a name given, since 2003, to a loose alliance of Northern Irish loyalist extremists who carried out sectarian killings and bomb attacks in the 1970s against the Irish Catholic and Irish nationalist community. Most of its attacks took place in the area of County Armagh and mid...
", a loose alliance of loyalist extremists which allegedly functioned under the direction of British Military Intelligence and/or RUC Special Branch. It comprised rogue elements of the regular 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...
, the RUC and its Special Patrol Group
Special Patrol Group (RUC)
The Special Patrol Group in the Royal Ulster Constabulary was a police unit tasked with counter terrorism. Each SPG had 30 members. Many of the SPG units were accused of collusion with the illegal paramilitary group the Ulster Volunteer Force, particularly the actions of a unit based in Armagh.-A...
(SPG), the UDR, the UDA, as well as the UVF.
The Pat Finucane Centre in collaboration with an international panel of inquiry (headed by Professor Douglass Cassel, formerly of Northwestern University School of Law
Northwestern University School of Law
The Northwestern University School of Law is a private American law school in Chicago, Illinois. The law school was founded in 1859 as the Union College of Law of the Old University of Chicago. The first law school established in Chicago, it became jointly controlled by Northwestern University in...
) has implicated this gang in 87 killings which were carried out in the 1970s against the Catholic nationalist and republican community. The name, first used in 2003, is derived from a farm in Glenanne, County Armagh, which the UVF regularly used as an arms dump and bomb-making site. It was owned by James Mitchell
Glenanne gang
The Glenanne gang was a name given, since 2003, to a loose alliance of Northern Irish loyalist extremists who carried out sectarian killings and bomb attacks in the 1970s against the Irish Catholic and Irish nationalist community. Most of its attacks took place in the area of County Armagh and mid...
, an RUC reservist. Weir named Jackson as a key player in the Glenanne gang.
He also had close ties to loyalist extremists from Dungannon
Dungannon
Dungannon is a medium-sized town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the third-largest town in the county and a population of 11,139 people was recorded in the 2001 Census. In August 2006, Dungannon won Ulster In Bloom's Best Kept Town Award for the fifth time...
such as brothers John James and Wesley Somerville
Wesley Somerville
Wesley Somerville was a Northern Irish loyalist, who held the rank of lieutenant in the Ulster Volunteer Force's Mid-Ulster Brigade during the period of religious-political conflict known as "The Troubles". He also served as a member of the Ulster Defence Regiment...
.
Patrick Campbell shooting
He was first arrested on 8 November 1973 for the 28 October killing of Patrick Campbell, a Catholic trade unionist from BanbridgeBanbridge
Banbridge is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Bann and the A1 road. It was named after a bridge built over the Bann in 1712. The town grew as a coaching stop on the road from Belfast to Dublin and thrived from Irish linen manufacturing...
who was gunned down on his doorstep. Jackson's words after he was charged with the killing were: "Nothing. I just can't believe it". Campbell's wife had opened the door to the gunman and his accomplice when they had come looking for her husband. She had got a good look at the two men. And although she identified Jackson as the killer at an identity parade, murder charges against him were dropped on 4 January 1974 at 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...
Magistrates' Court
Magistrates' Court
A magistrates' court or court of petty sessions, formerly known as a police court, is the lowest level of court in England and Wales and many other common law jurisdictions...
. The charges were allegedly withdrawn because the RUC thought Mrs. Campbell knew him beforehand. Jackson, in fact confirmed this, saying that they had met previously on account that he worked in the same Banbridge shoe factory (Down Shoes Ltd.) as Patrick Campbell. It was suggested in David McKittrick
David McKittrick
David McKittrick is a Belfast-born journalist who has reported on Northern Ireland since 1971.-Professional career:McKittrick began his career as a reporter for the East Antrim Times. He joined the Irish Times in 1973 as a reporter in Belfast, becoming Northern editor in 1976 and London editor in...
's Lost Lives that some time before the shooting there may have been a "minor political disagreement" between Jackson and Campbell while the two men were on a night out. Raymond Murray in his book The SAS in Ireland suggested that his accomplice in the shooting was Wesley Somerville.
Dublin car bombings
RUCRoyal 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...
Special Patrol Group
Special Patrol Group (RUC)
The Special Patrol Group in the Royal Ulster Constabulary was a police unit tasked with counter terrorism. Each SPG had 30 members. Many of the SPG units were accused of collusion with the illegal paramilitary group the Ulster Volunteer Force, particularly the actions of a unit based in Armagh.-A...
officer John Weir
John Weir (loyalist)
John Oliver Weir , is an Ulster loyalist born in the Republic of Ireland. He served as an officer in Northern Ireland's Royal Ulster Constabulary's Special Patrol Group , and was a volunteer in the illegal Ulster Volunteer Force...
, himself a convicted murderer, stated in a sworn affidavit that Robin Jackson was one of those who had planned and carried out the Dublin car bombings
Dublin and Monaghan Bombings
The Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 17 May 1974 were a series of car bombings in Dublin and Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. The attacks killed 33 civilians and wounded almost 300 – the highest number of casualties in any single day during the conflict known as The Troubles.A loyalist...
. According to Weir, Jackson, along with the main organiser Billy Hanna and Davy Payne
Davy Payne
David "Davy" Payne was a senior Northern Irish loyalist and a high-ranking member of the Ulster Defence Association during the Troubles serving as brigadier of the North Belfast Brigade. He was second-in-command of the Shankill Road brigade of the Ulster Freedom Fighters , which was the "cover...
(UDA, Belfast), led one of the two UVF units that bombed Dublin on 17 May 1974 in three separate explosions, resulting in the deaths of 26 people, including two infant girls. Close to 300 others were injured in the blasts; many of them maimed and scarred for life. The bombings took place on the third day of the Ulster Workers Council Strike, which was a general strike in Northern Ireland called by unionists
Unionism in Ireland
Unionism in Ireland is an ideology that favours the continuation of some form of political union between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain...
and hard-line loyalists in protest against the Sunningdale Agreement
Sunningdale Agreement
The Sunningdale Agreement was an attempt to establish a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive and a cross-border Council of Ireland. The Agreement was signed at the Civil Service College in Sunningdale Park located in Sunningdale, Berkshire, on 9 December 1973.Unionist opposition, violence and...
and the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly (1973)
The Northern Ireland Assembly was a legislative assembly set up by the Government of the United Kingdom on 3 May 1973 to restore devolved government to Northern Ireland with the power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive made up of unionists and nationalists....
which had proposed their sharing political power with nationalists
Northern Ireland Executive (1974)
After the Northern Ireland Assembly elections of 1973, negotiations between the pro-agreement parties on the formation of a "power-sharing Executive" began. The most contentious issues were internment, policing and the question of a Council of Ireland....
and planned a greater role for the Republic of Ireland in the governance of Northern Ireland. In 2003, Weir's information was published in the Barron Report, which was the findings of an official investigation into the bombings by Irish Supreme Court Justice Henry Barron. Justice Barron concluded Weir's "evidence overall is credible". "An article by Paul Foot in Private Eye also implicated Jackson in the bombings. The producers of the 1993 Yorkshire Television documentary, The Hidden Hand: The Forgotten Massacre, dilatorily named Jackson as one of the bombers, however three of his alleged accomplices Billy Hanna, Harris Boyle
Harris Boyle
Harris Boyle was a Ulster Defence Regiment soldier and a high-ranking member of the Ulster Volunteer Force , a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary organisation. Boyle was implicated in the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings which left a total of 33 people dead...
, and Robert McConnell
Robert McConnell (loyalist)
Robert William McConnell , was a Northern Irish loyalist who allegedly carried out or was an accomplice to a number of sectarian attacks and killings, although he never faced any charges or convictions...
were directly named. Although the incriminating evidence against Jackson had comprised eight hours of recorded testimony which came from one of his purported chief accomplices in the bombings, the programme did not name him directly during the transmission as the station did not want to risk an accusation of libel. The programme's narrator instead referred to him as "the Jackal". Hanna, Boyle, and McConnell were deceased at the time of the programme's airing.
According to submissions received by Mr. Justice Barron, on the morning of 17 May 1974, the day of the bombings, Jackson collected the three bombs and placed them onto his poultry lorry at James Mitchell's farm in Glenanne, County Armagh, which had been used for the construction and storage of the devices.
He then drove across the Republic of Ireland's border down to Dublin crossing the Boyne River
Boyne River
Boyne River may refer to:* River Boyne in Ireland* Boyne River , a tribuatry of the Hérault* Boyne River , in Manitoba, Canada* Boyne River , in Michigan, United States...
at Oldbridge. The route had been well-rehearsed over the previous months. Billy Hanna, who was at the time the Mid-Ulster UVF's commander and the principal organiser of the attacks, had accompanied him. At the Coachman's Inn pub carpark on the Swords Road near Dublin Airport
Dublin Airport
Dublin Airport, , is operated by the Dublin Airport Authority. Located in Collinstown, in the Fingal part of County Dublin, 18.4 million passengers passed through the airport in 2010, making it the busiest airport in the Republic of Ireland, followed by Cork and Shannon...
, the two men met up with the other members of the UVF bombing team. Jackson and Hanna subsequently transferred the bombs from his lorry into the boots of three allocated cars, which had been hijacked and stolen that morning in Belfast. The Hidden Hand producers named William "Frenchie" Marchant
William Marchant (loyalist)
William "Frenchie" Marchant was a Northern Irish loyalist and a middle-ranking volunteer in the Ulster Volunteer Force . He was on a Garda list of suspects in the 1974 Dublin car bombings which left a total of 26 people dead, and close to 300 injured...
of the UVF's A Coy, 1st Battalion Belfast Brigade as having been on a Garda
Garda Síochána
, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...
list of suspects as the organiser of the hijackings in Belfast on the morning of the bombings. The cars, after being obtained by the gang of hijackers, known as "Freddie and the Dreamers", were driven from Belfast across the border to the carpark, retaining their original registration numbers. Journalist Joe Tiernan suggested that the bombs were activated by Billy Hanna. Sometime before 4.00 p.m., Jackson and Hanna headed back to Northern Ireland in the poultry lorry after the latter had given the final instructions to the drivers of the car bombs. Upon their return, Jackson and Hanna went back to the soup kitchen they were running at a Mourneville, Lurgan bingo hall. With the UWC strike in its third day, it was extremely difficult for people throughout Northern Ireland to obtain necessities such as food. Neither man's absence had been noticed by the other helpers.
Following Hanna's orders, the three car bombs (two of them escorted by a "scout" [lead] car, to be used for the bombers' escape back across the Northern Ireland border) were driven into the city centre of Dublin where they detonated in Parnell Street
Parnell Street
Parnell Street is located on Dublin's Northside and runs from Capel Street in the west to Gardiner Street and Mountjoy Square in the east, and is at the north end of O'Connell Street, where it provides the south side of Parnell Square....
, Talbot Street
Talbot Street
Talbot Street is a city-centre street located on Dublin's Northside and is one of the principal shopping streets of Dublin, running from Connolly station and the IFSC at Amiens Street in the east to Marlborough Street in the west. The street is named after Charles Chetwynd, 3rd Earl of Talbot,...
, and South Leinster Street, almost simultaneously at approximately 5.30 pm. No warnings were given. The bombs had been so well constructed that one hundred per cent of each bomb exploded upon detonation. Twenty-three people were killed outright in the blasts, including a pregnant woman and her unborn child; three more people would later die of their injuries. The bodies of the dead were mostly unrecognisable. One girl who had been near the epicentre of the Talbot Street explosion was decapitated; only her platform boots provided a clue as to her sex. The bombers immediately fled from the destruction they had wrought in central Dublin in the two scout cars and made their way north using the "smuggler's route" of minor and back roads, crossing the border near Hackballs Cross, 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...
at about 7.30 pm Thirty minutes earlier in Monaghan
Monaghan
Monaghan is the county town of County Monaghan in Ireland. Its population at the 2006 census stood at 7,811 . The town is located on the main road, the N2 road, from Dublin north to both Derry and Letterkenny.-Toponym:...
, an additional seven people were killed instantly or fatally injured by a fourth car bomb which had been delivered by a team from the Mid-Ulster UVF's Portadown unit. According to Joe Tiernan, this attack was carried out to draw the Gardai away from the border, enabling the Dublin bombers to cross back into Northern Ireland undetected.
Jackson was questioned following the Yorkshire Television programme, and he denied any involvement in the Dublin attacks. His name had appeared on a Garda list of suspects for the bombings. Hanna's name was on both the Garda and the RUC's list of suspects; however, neither of the two men were ever arrested or interrogated in connection with the bombings. The submissions made to the Barron Inquiry also stated that one week before the Dublin attacks, Jackson and others had been stopped at a Garda checkpoint at Hackballs Cross.
As it turned out, nobody was ever convicted of the car bombings. Years later, British journalist Peter Taylor
Peter Taylor (Journalist)
Peter Taylor born in Scarborough, North Riding of Yorkshire is a British journalist and documentary-maker who had covered for many years the political and armed conflict in Northern Ireland, widely known as the Troubles...
in an interview with 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...
(PUP) politician and former senior Belfast UVF member David Ervine
David Ervine
David Ervine was a Northern Irish politician and the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party .-Biography:...
questioned him about UVF motives for the 1974 Dublin attacks. Ervine replied they [UVF] were "returning the serve". Ervine, although he had not participated in the bombings, explained that the UVF had wanted the Catholics across the border in the Irish Republic to suffer as Protestants in Northern Ireland had suffered on account of the intensive bombing campaign waged by the Provisional IRA.
On 28 May 1974, 11 days after the bombings, the UWC strike ended with the collapse of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the power-sharing Executive
Northern Ireland Executive (1974)
After the Northern Ireland Assembly elections of 1973, negotiations between the pro-agreement parties on the formation of a "power-sharing Executive" began. The most contentious issues were internment, policing and the question of a Council of Ireland....
.
John Francis Green killing
Statements made by John Weir affirmed Jackson's active participation in the killing of IRA member John Francis GreenJohn Francis Green
John Francis Green , was a leading member of the North Armagh Brigade of the Provisional IRA, holding the rank of Staff Captain and Intelligence Officer. He was killed in a farmhouse outside Castleblayney, County Monaghan, by members of the Mid-Ulster Brigade of the Ulster Volunteer Force...
in Mullyash, near Castleblayney
Castleblayney
Castleblayney or Castleblaney is a town in County Monaghan, Ireland. The town has a population of about 3,000.Castleblayney lies near the border with County Armagh and is on the N2 road from Dublin to Derry...
, County Monaghan
County Monaghan
County Monaghan is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County Council is the local authority for the county...
. On the evening of 10 January 1975, gunmen kicked down the front door of the "safe" house Green was staying in and finding him alone in the living room immediately opened fire, shooting him six times in the head at close range. The bullets all entered from the front, which indicated that Green had been facing his killers. The UVF claimed responsibility for the killing in the June 1975 edition of its magazine Combat. Green's killing occurred during an IRA ceasefire, which had been declared the previous month.
Miami Showband massacre
Jackson was also alleged by Kevin Dowling, Joe Tiernan, and the Pat Finucane Centre to have led the UVF gang that carried out the Miami Showband massacre at Buskhill, outside NewryNewry
Newry is a city in Northern Ireland. The River Clanrye, which runs through the city, formed the historic border between County Armagh and County Down. It is from Belfast and from Dublin. Newry had a population of 27,433 at the 2001 Census, while Newry and Mourne Council Area had a population...
on 31 July 1975, which left band members Brian McCoy, Anthony Geraghty, and Fran O'Toole dead. Two others, Stephen Travers and Des McAlea, were wounded. Harris Boyle and Wesley Somerville, members of both the UDR and Mid-Ulster UVF, were accidentally blown up after they had loaded a bomb into the back of the band's minibus which had been parked in a lay-by. The minibus (driven by trumpeter Brian McCoy) had been flagged-down by UVF men wearing British Army uniforms at a bogus roadside military checkpoint on the main A1 road
A1 road (Northern Ireland)
The A1 is a major route in Northern Ireland. It runs from Belfast via Lisburn and Banbridge to the border with the Republic of Ireland south of Newry, from where the road continues to Dublin, becoming the N1 road and M1 motorway...
as the band was returning home to Dublin after a performance in Banbridge
Banbridge
Banbridge is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Bann and the A1 road. It was named after a bridge built over the Bann in 1712. The town grew as a coaching stop on the road from Belfast to Dublin and thrived from Irish linen manufacturing...
. Following the premature detonation, which ripped the vehicle in half, the band members were then gunned down by the surviving UVF men. Jackson had assumed command of the Mid-Ulster UVF just a few days before the attack, when he allegedly shot commander Billy Hanna to death outside his home in Lurgan in the early hours of 27 July. Harris Boyle had reportedly accompanied Jackson to the shooting. Hanna was shot twice in the head; once in the temple and afterwards in the back of the head, execution style. Jackson had afterwards attended Hanna's funeral, where he was photographed standing beside Wesley Somerville. In August 1975, Jackson was taken in and questioned by the RUC as a suspect in the Miami Showband killings; he was subsequently released without facing any charges. In October 1976, two serving members of the UDR (Thomas Crozier and James McDowell) received life sentences for the killings. A third man, former UDR soldier, John James Somerville was sentenced to life imprisonment in November 1981.
After his arrest, Jackson accused two CID
Criminal Investigation Department
The Crime Investigation Department is the branch of all Territorial police forces within the British Police and many other Commonwealth police forces, to which plain clothes detectives belong. It is thus distinct from the Uniformed Branch and the Special Branch.The Metropolitan Police Service CID,...
Detective Constables, Norman Carlisle and Raymond Buchanan, of having physically assaulted him on 7 August 1975 while he had been in police custody at Bessbrook
Bessbrook
Bessbrook is a village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It lies about three miles northwest of Newry and close to the main Dublin–Belfast road and rail line...
RUC Station. Although medical evidence presented at the trial of the accused Detective Constables raised the possibility that Jackson's injuries were self-inflicted, on 23 December 1975 a magistrate upheld the charge against the two CID men and they were fined £10 each.
On 11 June 1975, more than a month prior to the Miami Showband killings, Jackson, his brother-in-law, Samuel Fulton Neill, and Thomas Crozier had been arrested for the possession of four shotguns. Neill's car was later used in the Showband ambush. Neill was fatally shot in Portadown on 25 January 1976 allegedly by Jackson for having passed on information to the RUC about the people involved in the Showband attack. The Douglass Cassel panel of inquiry stated that it was unclear why Jackson, Crozier, and Neill had not been in police custody at the time the Showband killings took place. The panel 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". Former British soldier and psychological warfare
Psychological warfare
Psychological warfare , or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations , have been known by many other names or terms, including Psy Ops, Political Warfare, “Hearts and Minds,” and Propaganda...
operative Major Colin Wallace
Colin Wallace
John Colin Wallace is a former British soldier and psychological warfare operative who was one of the members of the 'Clockwork Orange' project, which is alleged to have been an attempt to smear a number of British politicians in the early 1970s.-Early life:...
stated that he was told in 1974 that Jackson was working as an agent for the RUC's Special Branch. He confirmed this allegation in a letter written to a colleague dated 14 August 1975 in which he named Jackson as an RUC Special Branch agent.
Links to Captain Robert Nairac
It was stated by The Hidden Hand programme that Jackson had links to British Military Intelligence and Liaison officer Captain Robert NairacRobert Nairac
Captain Robert Laurence Nairac GC was a British Army officer who was abducted from a pub in south County Armagh during an undercover operation and killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army on his fourth tour of duty in Northern Ireland as a Military Intelligence Liaison Officer...
. The Hidden Hand alleged that Jackson and his UVF comrades were controlled by Nairac who was attached to 14th Intelligence Company (The Det). Former MI6 operative, Captain Fred Holroyd claimed that Nairac admitted to having been involved in John Francis Green's death and had shown Holroyd a colour polaroid photograph of Green's corpse to back up his claim. Holroyd believed that for some months leading up to his shooting, Green had been kept under surveillance by 4 Field Survey Troop, Royal Engineers, one of the three sub-units of 14th Intelligence. This unit was based in Castledillon, County Armagh, and according to Holroyd, was the cover name of an SAS troop commanded by Nairac and Captain Julian Antony "Tony" Ball. Nairac was himself abducted and killed by the IRA in 1977, and Ball was killed in an accident in Oman
Oman
Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
in 1981. Justice Barron himself questioned Holroyd's evidence as a result of two later Garda investigations, where Detective Inspector Culhane discounted Holroyd's allegations regarding Nairac and the polaroid photograph. Culhane concluded that the latter had been one of a series of official photographs taken of Green's body the morning following his killing by Detective Sergeant William Stratford, who worked in the Garda Technical Bureau
Garda Technical Bureau
The Garda Technical Bureau is the longest established Specialist unit in An Garda Síochána. The Bureau comprises eight Sections each providing a specialist service to An Garda Síochána:#Fingerprinting#Ballistics#Photography#Mapping...
's Photography Section.
Weir made the following statements in relation to Jackson and Nairac's alleged mutual involvement in the Green assassination:
"The men who did that shooting were Robert McConnell, Robin Jackson, and I would be almost certain, Harris Boyle who was killed in the Miami attack. What I am absolutely certain of is that Robert McConnell, Robert McConnell knew that area really, really well. Robin Jackson was with him. I was later told that Nairac was with them. I was told by...a UVF man, he was very close to Jackson and operated with him. Jackson told [him] that Nairac was with them".
In his 1989 book War Without Honour, Holyroyd claimed that Nairac had organised the Miami Showband ambush in collaboration with Jackson, and had also been present at Buskhill when the attack was carried out. Bassist Stephen Travers and saxophonist Des McAlea, the two bandmembers who survived the shootings, both testified in court that a British Army officer "with a crisp, clipped English accent" had overseen the operation. However, when shown a photograph of Nairac, Travers could not positively identify him as the soldier who had been at the scene. Author Martin Dillon in The Dirty War adamantly stated that Nairac had not been involved in the Green killing nor in the Miami Showband massacre.
The Barron Report noted that although Weir maintained that Jackson and Billy Hanna had links to Nairac and British Military Intelligence, his claim did not imply that the British Army or Military Intelligence had aided the two men in the planning and perpetration of the 1974 Dublin bombings. While in prison, Weir wrote a letter to a friend claiming that Nairac had ties to both Jackson and James Mitchell, owner of the Glenanne farm.
The 2006 Interim Report of Mr. Justice Barron's inquiry into the Dundalk bombing of 1975 (see below) concluded that Jackson was one of the suspected bombers "reliably said to have had relationships with British Intelligence and or RUC Special Branch officers".
1975
The 2006 Interim Report named Jackson as having possibly been one of the two gunmen in the shooting death of the McKearney couple on 23 October 1975. Peter McKearney was shot between 14 and 18 times, and his wife, Jenny 11 times. The shooting took place at their home in Moy, County TyroneMoy, County Tyrone
Moy or The Moy is a village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. The 2001 Census recorded a population of 1,218.It is about southeast of Dungannon and is beside the smaller village of Charlemont. Charlemont is on the east bank of the River Blackwater and Moy on the west; the two are...
; Jackson was linked to the 9mm Sterling submachine gun used in the killings. "Glenanne gang" member Garnet Busby pleaded guilty to the killings and was sentenced to life imprisonment. John Weir claimed that Jackson led the group who bombed Kay's Tavern pub in Dundalk
Dundalk
Dundalk is the county town of County Louth in Ireland. It is situated where the Castletown River flows into Dundalk Bay. The town is close to the border with Northern Ireland and equi-distant from Dublin and Belfast. The town's name, which was historically written as Dundalgan, has associations...
on 19 December 1975, which killed two men. Mr. Justice Barron implicated the "Glenanne gang" in the bombing, however, Jackson was not identified by any eyewitnesses at or in the vicinity of Kay's Tavern. Gardai received information from a reliable source that Jackson and his car - a Vauxhall Viva with the registration number CIA 2771 - were involved in the bombing; yet there were no witnesses who reported having seen the car. The RUC stated that Jackson had been observed celebrating at a Banbridge bar at 9.00 pm on the evening of the attack in the company of other loyalist extremists. The implication was that they were celebrating the Kay's Tavern bombing.
1976
The following month, on 4 January 1976, Jackson supposedly organised the "Glenanne gang"'s two co-ordinated sectarian attacks against the O'Dowd and ReaveyReavey and O'Dowd killings
The Reavey and O'Dowd killings took place on 4 January 1976 in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Volunteers from the Ulster Volunteer Force , a loyalist paramilitary group, shot dead five Catholic civilians – two from the Reavey family and three from the O'Dowd family – in two co-ordinated attacks....
families in County Armagh leaving a total of five men dead and one injured. Weir maintained that it was Jackson who shot 61-year-old Joseph O'Dowd and his two nephews, Barry and Declan, to death at a family celebration in Ballydougan
Ballydougan
Ballydugan or Ballydougan is a townland in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It lies on the County Armagh–County Down border, between Lurgan and Gilford...
, near Gilford; although Jackson had not been at the scene where the Reavey brothers had been killed twenty minutes earlier. The day after the double killing, ten Protestant workmen were gunned down
Kingsmill massacre
The Kingsmill massacre took place on 5 January 1976 near the village of Kingsmill in south County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Ten Protestant men were taken from a minibus and shot dead by a group calling itself the South Armagh Republican Action Force...
by the South Armagh Republican Action Force
South Armagh Republican Action Force
The South Armagh Republican Action Force was an alleged Irish republican paramilitary group that was active from 1975 to 1977 during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Its area of activity was mainly the southern part of County Armagh. According to writers such as Ed Moloney and Richard English, it...
who ambushed their minibus near the village of Kingsmill
Kingsmill
Kingsmill is a name which has been used in James City County, Virginia since the mid-18th century. Initially the name of a plantation, in modern times, the name is attached to a geographic area which includes a large planned residential community, a resort complex, a theme park, a brewery, and a...
. The shootings were in retaliation for the O'Dowd and Reavey killings. The Glenanne gang made plans to avenge the Kingsmill victims with an attack on St Lawrence O'Toole Primary School at Belleeks. This plan, which involved the killing of at least 30 schoolchildren and their teacher, was called off at the last minute by the UVF's Brigade Staff (Belfast leadership), who considered it "morally unacceptable" and feared it would have led to a civil war.
Based on the description given by Barney O'Dowd, a survivor of the shooting attack at Ballydougan, one of the weapons used in the O'Dowd killings was a Luger with an attached silencer. In May 1976, Jackson's fingerprints were discovered on insulating tape wrapped around a home-made silencer for a Luger pistol. Both the silencer and pistol were found by the security forces at the home of a man by the name of Edward Sinclair. Although Jackson was charged, he managed to avoid conviction, with the judge having reportedly said: "At the end of the day I find that the accused somehow touched the silencer, but the Crown evidence has left me completely in the dark as to whether he did that wittingly or unwittingly, willingly or unwillingly". As a result of the judicious examination of forensic ballistics procured from original RUC reports and presented to Justice Barron, the 9mm Luger pistol serial no. U 4 to which the silencer was attached was established as having been the same one used in the Miami Showband and John Francis Green killings. According to journalist Tom McGurk, Miami Showband trumpeter Brian McCoy was shot nine times in the back with a Luger pistol. The Luger pistol serial no.U 4 was later destroyed by the RUC on 28 August 1978. Barney O'Dowd claimed that RUC detectives in the 1980s admitted to him that Jackson had been the man who shot the three O'Dowd men, but the evidence had not been sufficient to charge him with the killings.
Weir stated in his affidavit that on one occasion sometime after he was transferred to Newry RUC station in October 1976, Jackson, himself, and another RUC officer and "Glenanne gang" member, Gary Armstrong went on a reconnaissance in south Armagh seeking out the homes of known IRA members, with the aim of assassinating them. Jackson, according to Weir, carried a knife and hammer, and boasted to Weir that if they happened to "find a suitable person to kill", he [Jackson] "knew how to do it with those weapons". They approached the houses of two IRA men; however, the plan to attack them was aborted and they drove back to Lurgan. They were stopped at an RUC roadblock near the Republic of Ireland border, but the three men were waved through, after an exchange of courtesies, despite the presence of Jackson in the car with two RUC officers.
1977 and the William Strathearn killing
Ahoghill
Ahoghill or Ahohill is a large village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, four miles from Ballymena. It has a population of 3,055 people . It is within the Borough of Ballymena....
, County Antrim
County Antrim
County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...
after two men knocked on his door at 2.00 am on 19 April 1977 claiming to need medicine for a sick child. Strathearn lived above his chemist's shop. Weir was one of the RUC men later convicted of the killing, along with his SPG colleague, Billy McCaughey
Billy McCaughey
William "Billy" McCaughey was a member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary's Special Patrol Group and the illegal Ulster Volunteer Force in the 1970s. He was imprisoned for 16 years for murder from 1980 to 1996...
, and he named Jackson as having been the gunman, alleging that Jackson had told him after the shooting that he had shot Strathearn twice when the latter opened the door. Weir and McCaughey had waited in Weir's car while the shooting was carried out. The gun that Jackson used had been given to him by McCaughey, with the instructions that he was only to fire through an upstairs window to frighten the occupants and make sure they "got the message", and not to kill anyone. As in the Dublin bombings, Jackson's poultry lorry was also employed on this occasion, specifically to transport himself and Robert John "R.J." Kerr
Robert John Kerr
Robert John "R. J." Kerr , was a leading Northern Irish loyalist. He served as the commander of the Portadown battalion of the Ulster Defence Association's Mid-Ulster Brigade. Along with the Mid-Ulster Ulster Volunteer Force's brigadier Robin Jackson, Kerr was implicated in the killing of Catholic...
– another alleged accomplice – to and from the scene of the crime. After the killing, Jackson and Kerr went on to deliver a load of chickens. Kerr was Jackson's lorry helper, who assisted him in loading and unloading the chickens Jackson sold for a living.
Jackson was never questioned about the killing. According to an RUC detective, he was not interrogated for "reasons of operational strategy". Weir suggested that "Jackson was untouchable because he was an RUC Special Branch agent." The Barron Report stated that Weir had made an offer to testify against Jackson and Robert John "R.J". Kerr, but only on the condition that the murder charge against him was withdrawn. This offer was refused by the Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions who said
"Kerr and Jackson have not been interviewed by the police because the police state they are virtually immune to interrogation and the common police consensus is that to arrest and interview either man is a waste of time. Both men are known to police to be very active and notorious UVF murderers. Nevertheless the police do not recommend consideration of withdrawal of charges against Weir. I agree with this view. Weir and McCaughey must be proceeded against. When proceedings against them are terminated the position may be reviewed in respect of Jackson and Kerr".
It is noted in the Barron Report that Northern Ireland's Lord Chief Justice Robert Lowry
Robert Lowry, Baron Lowry
Sir Robert Lynd Erskine Lowry, Baron Lowry PC , often known as Robbie Lowry, was a Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland and a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary...
was aware of Jackson and Kerr's involvement in the Strathearn killing, and that they were not prosecuted for "operational reasons". Mr. Justice Barron was highly critical of the RUC's failure to properly investigate Jackson.
Weir declared "I think it is important to make it clear that this collusion between loyalist paramilitaries such as Robin Jackson and my RUC colleagues and me was taking place with the full knowledge of my superiors".
1978–1991
Dessie O'Hare
Dessie O'Hare , also known as "The Border Fox", is an Irish republican paramilitary, who was once the most wanted man in Ireland....
from the "The Spinning Wheel" pub he frequented. However, when Jackson and Weir arrived, they discovered the publican had been warned of the kidnap plot and they were ordered to leave the premises.
Jackson's only conviction
Conviction
In law, a conviction is the verdict that results when a court of law finds a defendant guilty of a crime.The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal . In Scotland and in the Netherlands, there can also be a verdict of "not proven", which counts as an acquittal...
came about after he was arrested on 16 October 1979 when a .22 pistol, a .38 revolver, a magazine, 13 rounds of ammunition, and hoods
Hood (headgear)
A hood is a kind of headgear that covers most of the head and neck and sometimes the face. They may be worn for protection from the environment, for fashion, as a form of traditional dress or uniform, to prevent the wearer from seeing or to prevent the wearer from being identified.-History and...
were found in his possession. He was remanded in custody to Crumlin Road Prison in Belfast to await trial. On 20 January 1981, Jackson was brought before the Belfast Crown Court
Courts of Northern Ireland
The courts of Northern Ireland are the civil and criminal courts responsible for the administration of justice in Northern Ireland: they are constituted and governed by Northern Ireland law....
on charges of possession of guns and ammunition, and was sentenced to seven years in prison. He was, however, released on 12 May 1983.
He reportedly perpetrated his last killings in March 1991, with the fatal shootings of three Catholics, Eileen Duffy, Catriona Rennie, and Brian Frizzell
The Troubles in Craigavon
This is a list of incidents of violence during The Troubles in Craigavon, County Armagh, Northern Ireland.Incidents in Craigavon during the Troubles resulting in fatalities:-1982:...
, at a mobile shop in Craigavon
Craigavon
Craigavon is a settlement in north County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It was a planned settlement that was begun in 1965 and named after Northern Ireland's first Prime Minister — James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon. It was intended to be a linear city incorporating Lurgan and Portadown, but this plan...
. Two of the victims were teenage girls. Weir's affidavit contradicted this as it pointed out that although Jackson was aware that the killings were to take place, he had not been at the scene of the crime; a solicitor informed Weir he had been with Jackson at his home at the time the shootings occurred to provide him with an alibi. Author Sean McPhilemy and the Pat Finucane Centre both believed that Jackson went on killing people until 1996.
Reputation
Designated by Weir the "most notorious paramilitary in Northern Ireland", at least 50 killings were directly attributed to Jackson, according to journalists Stephen Howe in the New Statesman and David McKittrick in his book Lost Lives. Kevin Dowling in the Irish IndependentIrish Independent
The Irish Independent is Ireland's largest-selling daily newspaper that is published in both compact and broadsheet formats. It is the flagship publication of Independent News & Media.-History:...
, dubbed Jackson the "'Lord High Executioner' of the North's notorious murder triangle", adding that he was infamous from Belfast to the Irish border for "the intensity and fury of his instinct to kill".
Intelligence officers personally acquainted with Jackson stated that he was a psychopath who would often dress up and attend the funerals of his victims because he felt a need "to make sure they were dead." Described as having been a sardonic man who was extremely dedicated; physically he was "small, but firmly-built". Suspicious by nature, he repeatedly advised his associates that they should never reveal secret information to anybody.
Psychological warfare operative Major Colin Wallace confirmed the allegations, stating that
"everything people had whispered about Robin Jackson for years was perfectly true. He was a hired gun. A professional assassin. He was responsible for more deaths in the North [Northern Ireland] than any other person I knew. The Jackal killed people for a living. The State not only knew that he was doing it. Its servants encouraged him to kill its political opponents and protected him".Wallace also named Jackson as having been "centrally-involved" in the Dublin bombings, but like Weir, suggested that the principal organiser had been Billy Hanna. Wallace's psychological operations unit typically targeted loyalist extremists; however, during the period of 1973 and 1974 he was refused clearance to target principal members of the Mid-Ulster UVF despite an increase in paramilitary activity from the organisation. In June 1974, a month after the bombings, Wallace was denied permission to target key loyalists including Jackson and Hanna, as their names were on a list which excluded them from being targeted for psychological operations. This appeared to indicate that in practice, those members of paramilitaries whose names were listed were also excluded from being targeted for prosecution. The number of murders Jackson was involved in, both directly and indirectly, for more than three decades between the years 1973 and 1996, could be higher than 100 according to the Pat Finucane Centre. This figure was also cited by author Sean McPhilemy in his banned book The Committee. McPhilemy affirmed that Jackson was recruited by Army Intelligence in 1974 and that they trained him in the craft of assassination. He added that Jackson received special training by the British Army at their facility in Pontrellis, Wales. Captain Fred Holroyd also maintained that Jackson was given licence to kill
Licence to kill (concept)
Licence to kill is a literary device used in espionage fiction. It refers to the official sanction by a government or government agency to a particular operative or employee to initiate the use of lethal force in the delivery of their objectives...
by the security forces.
Liam Clarke of the Sunday Times made the following statements regarding Jackson and his reported special relationship with the security forces and military intelligence:
"Jackson had many allies still serving in the UDR and close links to special forces soldiers. These included Bunny Dearsley of military intelligence and Robert Nairac, Tony Ball and other soldiers attached to the undercover 14th Intelligence Unit. These officers met him at a bar in Moira and many suspect that he was involved in murders set up by military contacts at that time. In the late 1970s, he [Jackson] was a binge drinker and sometimes boasted to UVF associates of "someone looking after me". Some took this as a reference to God, or even the Devil, but the most likely explanation is that it referred to members of the Army's intelligence corps".
Originally nicknamed "Jacko", Jackson was given the more sinister soubriquet, "the Jackal" by Sunday World newspaper's Northern Ireland editor Jim Campbell when he investigated and exposed Jackson's alleged paramilitary activities – including his involvement in the Miami Showband killings – and links to British Military Intelligence. In retaliation, Jackson reportedly approached members of the violent loyalist Shankill Butchers
Shankill Butchers
The Shankill Butchers is the name given to an Ulster loyalist gang, many of whom were members of the Ulster Volunteer Force . The gang conducted paramilitary activities during the 1970s in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was most notorious for its late-night kidnapping, torture and murder of random...
gang in Belfast, who (at Jackson's request) shot and seriously wounded Campbell on 18 May 1984.
The Irish Times reported that the 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...
took Jackson abroad where he received specialist training. In the late 1980s, he was also sent by MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
to South Africa and Australia in order to buy weapons that were shipped back to loyalist paramilitaries and Ulster Resistance
Ulster Resistance
Ulster Resistance was a paramilitary movement established by unionists in Northern Ireland on 10 November 1986 in opposition to the Anglo-Irish Agreement.-Origins:The group was launched at a three thousand-strong invitation-only meeting at the Ulster Hall...
in Northern Ireland. Journalist Joe Gorrod of The Mirror wrote that Jackson kept hidden files that incriminated the politicians and businessmen who were involved with Jackson in the loyalist arms shipments. These documents, which were kept with a friend, ensured him that he would never be sentenced to a lengthy imprisonment.
In the early 1990s, he handed over command of the Mid-Ulster UVF to 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...
, who formed the 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) in 1996. This was after Wright and the Portadown unit of the Mid-Ulster Brigade had been stood down by the UVF's Brigade Staff in Belfast on 2 August 1996, following the unsanctioned killing of a Catholic taxi driver by members of Wright's brigade outside Lurgan during the Drumcree disturbances
Drumcree conflict
The Drumcree conflict or Drumcree standoff is an ongoing dispute over a yearly parade in the town of Portadown, Northern Ireland. The dispute is between the Orange Order and local residents. The residents are currently represented by the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition ; before 1995 they were...
when the UVF were on ceasefire
Ceasefire
A ceasefire is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be declared as part of a formal treaty, but they have also been called as part of an informal understanding between opposing forces...
. Although Wright took the officially-disbanded Portadown unit with him to form the LVF, Jackson remained loyal to the UVF leadership as did most of the other Mid-Ulster Brigade units.
According to journalist and author Ed Moloney
Ed Moloney
Ed Moloney is an Irish journalist and author best known for his coverage of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and particularly the activities of the Provisional IRA. Ed worked for the Hibernia magazine and Magill before going on to serve as Northern Ireland editor for The Irish Times and...
the UVF campaign in Mid Ulster "indisputably shattered Republican morale".
Jackson was confronted in 1998 by the son of Catholic RUC Sergeant Joe Campbell who was gunned down outside the Cushendall
Cushendall
Cushendall and formerly known as Newtown Glens is a village and townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.It is on the A2 coast road between Glenariff and Cushendun, in the Antrim Coast and Glens Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
, Co. Antrim RUC station in February 1977 as he was locking up. It was rumoured that Jackson had been the hitman
Hitman
A hitman is a person hired to kill another person.- Hitmen in organized crime :Hitmen are largely linked to the world of organized crime. Hitmen are hired people who kill people for money. Notable examples include Murder, Inc., Mafia hitmen and Richard Kuklinski.- Other cases involving hitmen...
sent to shoot Campbell on behalf of an RUC Special Branch officer. Weir, in his affidavit claimed that Jackson, prior to Campbell's shooting, had informed him of the RUC officer's request. Jackson, by then dying of cancer, told Campbell's son that he had not been involved in the killing. The UVF, at a secret meeting with journalists, confirmed that he had no hand in Sergeant Campbell's death. The case was later placed under investigation by the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland.
Death
Jackson died of lung cancer in his Donaghcloney home on Saturday 30 May 1998 and was buried the following Monday 1 June in a private ceremony in Lurgan. He was 49 years old.Journalist Martin O'Hagan
Martin O'Hagan
Owen Martin O'Hagan, was an Irish investigative journalist from Lurgan, Northern Ireland. He was the most prominent journalist to be killed as a consequence of the Troubles and the only one to be specifically assassinated as a result of his work.-Life:Martin O'Hagan's father served in the British...
had been in the process of writing a book about Jackson but his assassination by the Red Hand Defenders
Red Hand Defenders
The Red Hand Defenders is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in 1998 by loyalists who opposed the Belfast Agreement and the loyalist ceasefires. Its members were drawn mostly from the Ulster Defence Association and Loyalist Volunteer Force...
(RHD) in 2001 prevented its completion. Along with Billy Hanna and other senior loyalists, Jackson was commemorated in the UVF song Battalion of the Dead. In May 2010, angry relatives of UVF victims unsuccessfully sought the removal of the song from YouTube.
Jackson is the subject of a tune by Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
-based The Sons of Ulster Flute Band which is entitled Volunteer
Volunteer (Ulster loyalist)
Volunteer, abbreviated Vol., is a title used by a number of Ulster loyalist paramilitary organisations to describe their members.-History of the term volunteer in Ireland:...
Robin Jackson; some of the members of the flute band had been his friends.
See also
- Glenanne gangGlenanne gangThe Glenanne gang was a name given, since 2003, to a loose alliance of Northern Irish loyalist extremists who carried out sectarian killings and bomb attacks in the 1970s against the Irish Catholic and Irish nationalist community. Most of its attacks took place in the area of County Armagh and mid...
- Dublin and Monaghan bombingsDublin and Monaghan BombingsThe Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 17 May 1974 were a series of car bombings in Dublin and Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. The attacks killed 33 civilians and wounded almost 300 – the highest number of casualties in any single day during the conflict known as The Troubles.A loyalist...
- Miami Showband killingsMiami Showband killingsThe Miami Showband killings was a paramilitary attack at Buskhill, County Down, Northern Ireland, in the early morning of 31 July 1975. It left five people dead at the hands of Ulster Volunteer Force gunmen, including three members of The Miami Showband...
- Robert NairacRobert NairacCaptain Robert Laurence Nairac GC was a British Army officer who was abducted from a pub in south County Armagh during an undercover operation and killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army on his fourth tour of duty in Northern Ireland as a Military Intelligence Liaison Officer...
- The TroublesThe TroublesThe 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...
- Billy HannaBilly HannaWilliam Henry Wilson "Billy" Hanna MM was a high-ranking Northern Irish loyalist who founded and led the Mid-Ulster Brigade of the Ulster Volunteer Force until he was killed, allegedly by Robin Jackson, who took over command of the brigade.According to RUC Special Patrol Group officer John Weir,...