Gregg, seated in the backseat, was hit at close range and died instantly. [41], In 2009, the brigade claimed to have decommissioned a substantial quantity of guns and explosives in a single day in the presence of the chairman of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD). His own earliest memory of the Troubles was the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association marches in Derry, a movement to which Gregg and his family were strongly opposed. Widely known as a man with a fearsome reputation, Gregg was considered a "hawk" in some loyalist circles. John Gregg (1957 - 1 February 2003) was a senior member of the UDA/UFF loyalist paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland.In 1984, Gregg seriously wounded Sinn Fin president Gerry Adams in an assassination attempt. The secretive mobster has seen his one-time iron-clad grip on the UDA crime gang loosen in recent months, leaving him Brigadier in name only. 'Break the silence about who killed my brother', Cannabis factory uncovered in UDA searches, House of alleged senior UDA member seized, Angry protests erupt over Greek rail disaster, India PM Modi urges G20 to overcome divisions, Aboriginal spears taken in 1770 to return to Sydney, How 10% of Nigerian registered voters delivered victory, Sake brewers toast big rise in global sales, The Indian-American CEO who wants to be US president, Blackpink lead top stars back on the road in Asia, Exploring the rigging claims in Nigeria's elections, 'Wales is in England' gaffe sparks TikToker's trip. Despite his reputation for gangsterism, Gregg's failed attack on Gerry Adams had afforded him legendary status and, under the direction of Jackie McDonald, the remaining UDA brigadiers concluded that Adair had to be removed. 25.043611 121.5625. [3] He spent six months in jail for rioting in 1977. Gregg, at the time the head of the UDA commando in Rathcoole, was in charge of a three-man hit team that pulled up alongside Adams car near Belfast City Hall and opened fire injuring Adams and his three fellow passengers, who nonetheless escaped to seek treatment at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. (I.R.A) History & Background. [6] The Irish News described the brigade as 'powerful' and at one time being 'the most bloody and murderous gang operating within the paramilitary organisation'. FEARS of a new loyalist feud have emerged after a fanatical UDA faction accused a UVF chief of touting to cops. [43] The decommissioning was completed at the same time as that of the republican Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) and Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA). Gregg was also characterised as a bully, a racketeer, and a sectarian bigot who took particular delight in carrying out vicious punishment attacks and randomly targeting Roman Catholics.. On 4 September Langhammers car was blown up outside his Whiteabbey home by Greggs men, although Langhammer himself was asleep at the time and no one was injured. The UDA was only proscribed - or declared illegal - in 1992 and, as the Troubles ended, the group began to fracture. [11] Each geographical area was commanded by a UDA 'Brigadier' and sometimes also had a designated 'Military Commander', 'Intelligence Officer' and 'Quartermaster'. UDA. "All you have to do is look at history, there are very few commanders or brigadiers who were simply allowed to leave. Former PSNI superintendent Ken Pennington said he considers them to be "a criminal cartel that have wrapped themselves in a flag". Home. [6] However, this proved short-lived. Senior members of the Ulster Volunteer Force and Red Hand Commando also attended. The UDA South East Antrim Brigade was previously one of the six brigades of the Ulster Defence Association and are heavily involved in the drug trade. DCI John Caldwell: The New IRA threat after Omagh shooting, The Firm: Inside Lurgan and Portadowns cross-community crime gang. Many of them were innocent - but had to pay up anyway. Members of this brigade were believed to be behind the killings of Catholic postman Danny McColgan, Protestant teenager Gavin Brett and Trevor Lowry (the latter kicked to death in the mistaken belief he was a Catholic), and a spate of pipe bomb attacks on the homes of Catholics. T he breakaway South East Antrim has issued a warning that it will get tough with Carrick dealers . He managed to avoid being beaten in return for tricking his ex-UVF 2IC friend into attending the Monkstown meeting during which he was attacked. A mural in support of the group lists its areas of activity as being Rathcoole (the mural's location), Rathfern, Monkstown, Glengormley . And now it's emerged the UVF heavy has also given a separate list of UDA-linked dealers to the cops. Intense police pressure is forcing South East Antrim UDA mob boss Gary Fisher to gradually withdraw from his leadership role. Gregg was born in 1957 and raised in a Protestant family from the Tigers Bay area of North Belfast. The Sunday World also understands Fisher has become increasingly paranoid, believing there is an informant who is passing information about his movements to the PSNI. [3] He later became part of the UDA South East Antrim Brigade. The UDA South East Antrim Brigade is one of the six brigades of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). He has since told pals that he has no intention of leaving Rathcoole, where he grew up, but loyalist insiders say that he will have no option but to go. To the rest of us, an attack on a UDA brigadier is an attack on the whole organisation. Under Gregg, drug-dealing became a major problem in brigade areas, particularly Rathcoole, with Gregg himself said to have a leading role in the illicit trade. In 1984, Gregg seriously wounded Sinn Fin president Gerry Adams in an assassination attempt. Four men were convicted of his murder. [15] English was a strong advocate of political means and pushed for the UDA to call a ceasefire in the early 1990s, a position that was anathema, at that point, to Adair. the UDA commander or Brigadier in South-East Antrim, a figure who kept a very low . In the last 12 months almost a dozen alleged South East Antrim members have been lifted and charged with drug offences by the National Crime Agency working alongside the Paramilitary Crime Task Force. In late 2001, Greggs reign of terror in Rathcoole, where drug dealing, knee-capping and savage beatings were the norm, was challenged by local British Labour Party Councillor Mark Langhammer, who also objected to Greggs close links to neo-Nazi groups in Great Britain. According to a recent MI5/police intelligence assessment shared with Spotlight, the South East Antrim UDA "has access to arms" and is "heavily involved in drugs supply, community coercion, intimidation and other criminality". Greggs movements were known to C Company member Alan McCullough who, receiving instruction from Adair (then in HMP Maghaberry), arranged for a hit team to kill Gregg and his associate as the taxi took them from the port of Belfast. [25], By September 2002, Adair had even circulated stories to contacts in the media that Gregg was under death threat from the UDA. In late August, Adair had even managed to have Gregg stood down as Brigadier for "not being militant enough" and replaced by one of Adair's own associates. Representing the UVF was John 'Bunter' Graham and the organisation's 1st Battalion commander Harry Stockman. [73] . Despite his reputation for gangsterism, Greggs failed attack on Gerry Adams had afforded him legendary status and, under the direction of Jackie McDonald, the remaining UDA brigadiers concluded that Adair had to be removed. Harry and Meghan told to 'vacate' Frogmore Cottage, Explosive found in check-in luggage at US airport, Whiskey fungus forces Jack Daniels to stop construction, Rare Jurassic-era bug found at Arkansas Walmart, UN to ignore remarks of India guru's fictional country, India court panel to probe Adani fraud allegations. Will the Windsor Framework be enough for the DUP? 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He later became part of the UDA South East Antrim Brigade. Gregg joined the Ulster Young Militants (UYM), the youth wing of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association (UDA) at the age of 14. Gregg played the bass drum in the UDA-affiliated flute band Cloughfern Young Conquerors, a loyalist flute band which police claimed regularly caused trouble at Orange Order parades. During the course of the melee a Shankill Protestant Boys member managed to gouge out Greggs eye, although it is also claimed that Gregg lost his eye due to a fight with republicans at the same parade. On 8 December a bomb was found under Greggs car, apparently placed there by one of Adairs allies from the Loyalist Volunteer Force. At the service on 6 February, UVF/RHC representatives joined the UDA leadership in a show of anti-Adair solidarity. A UDA member originally from the Woodvale Road had moved to Rathcoole where he had been beaten up after it emerged that he was a friend of Joe English, the former brigadier who had been exiled from the estate by Gregg for his anti-drugs stance. [44] In 2010, the Independent Monitoring Commission confirmed that the split between the Fisher faction of the brigade and the wider UDA had not ended. Sources in Carrickfergus say that while he retains the . A rebel UDA unit is re-arming in a grim warning to rival drug dealers. In 1957 and raised in a show of anti-Adair solidarity 1st Battalion commander Harry Stockman Commando... Of a new loyalist feud have emerged after a fanatical UDA faction accused a UVF of. ' Graham and the organisation 's 1st Battalion commander Harry Stockman in some loyalist circles group began fracture. T he breakaway South East Antrim Brigade South-East Antrim, a figure who kept a very low to. 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