From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia John Gregg (UDA)
John Gregg (UDA)
John Gregg Adams’ car near Belfast City Hall and opened fire injuring
Adams and his three fellow passengers, who nonetheless
Birth name John Gregg escaped to seek treatment at the Royal Victoria Hospital,
Nickname "Grugg", "The Reaper" Belfast.[3]
Gregg and his team were apprehended almost im-
Born 1957
mediately by a British Army patrol that opened fire on
Died 1 February 2003 them before ramming their car.[3] The attack had been
Belfast, Northern Ireland known in advance by security forces due to a tip-off from
Buried at Carnmoney Cemetery informants within Rathcoole; Adams and his co-passen-
gers had survived in part because Royal Ulster Constab-
Allegiance Ulster Defence Association ulary (RUC) officers, acting on the informants’ informa-
Service/branch UDA South East Antrim Brigade tion, had replaced much of the ammunition in the UDA’s
Rathcoole weapons dump with low-velocity bullets.[4]
Years of service 1971-2003
Gregg was jailed for 18 years; however, he only served
Rank Brigadier half his sentence and was released in 1993.[5] When asked
by the BBC in prison if he regretted anything about the
Conflict The Troubles
shooting, his reply was, "Only that I didn’t succeed."[1]
Relations Stuart Gregg (son)
John Gregg (1957 - 1 February 2003) (nicknamed "Grugg")
Brigadier
was a senior member of the UDA/UFF loyalist organisa- Following his release from prison, Gregg returned to
tion in Northern Ireland. From the 1990s until his shoot- Rathcoole where he again became an important figure,
ing death by rival associates, he served as brigadier of its taking a central role in the illegal drug trades, with
South East Antrim Brigade. He was considered a "hawk" Gregg’s Rathcoole stronghold a centre of narcotics.[6]
in Loyalist circles.[1] Sometime after the Combined Loyalist Military Com-
mand of 1994 he succeeded Joe English, who had emerged
Ulster Defence Association as a leading figure in the Ulster Democratic Party, as
brigadier of the East Antrim UDA.[7] Under Gregg the East
Born in 1957 and raised in a Protestant family, Gregg Antrim Brigade were prepared to ignore the terms of the
joined the Ulster Young Militants (UYM), the youth wing loyalist ceasefire, such as on the 25th April 1997 when he
of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association dispatched a five man team to Carrickfergus to set fire
(UDA) at the age of 14.[2] He spent six months in jail for to a Catholic church in retaliation for a similar attack on
rioting in 1977.[2] He later became part of the UDA South a Protestant church in East Belfast (although this earli-
East Antrim Brigade. Members of this brigade were be- er attack had actually been organised by dissident loy-
lieved to be behind the killings of Catholic postman Dan- alists seeking to provoke the UDA into returning to vi-
ny McColgan, Protestant teenager Gavin Brett and Trevor olence).[8] Gregg’s fearsome reputation earned him the
Lowry (the latter kicked to death in the mistaken belief nickname "the Reaper" and he bore a tattoo of the Grim
he was a Catholic), and a spate of pipe bomb attacks on Reaper on his back as a tribute.[9]
the homes of Catholics.[1] Gregg played the bass drum in the UDA-affiliated
flute band Cloughfern Young Conquerors, a loyalist flute
Assassination attempt on Gerry band which police claimed regularly caused trouble at
Orange Order parades.[10] In late August 1997 this band
Adams was one of a number of similar flute bands to travel to
Derry for the annual Apprentice Boys of Derry march
On 14 March 1984, he severely wounded Sinn Féin pres-
through the city centre. As the band prepared to take
ident Gerry Adams in an attack ordered as a response
the train home that evening they met members of the
to the earlier killings of Ulster Unionist Party politicians
Shankill Protestant Boys, another band in town for the
Robert Bradford and Edgar Graham.[3] Gregg, at the time
parade that was affiliated to the Ulster Volunteer Force
the head of the UDA commando in Rathcoole, was in
(UVF). Brawls between the two had been frequent and
charge of a three man hit team that pulled up alongside
tensions had been growing between the UDA and UVF
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia John Gregg (UDA)
leading to a drink-fuelled pitched battle between the two
groups at the train station. During the course of the
Johnny Adair
melee a Shankill Protestant Boys member managed to Despite the continuing activity of his brigade, and his
gouge out Gregg’s eye.[11] own earlier maiming, Gregg shared the reluctance of oth-
er brigadiers about what he saw as a coming war between
the UVF and West Belfast brigadier Johnny Adair.[18]
Anti-Catholic campaigns Nonetheless he was not keen to antagonise Adair and so,
Along with Jackie McDonald and Billy McFarland, fellow along with McFarland, McDonald and Jimbo Simpson, ac-
brigadiers on the UDA’s Inner Council, Gregg was lacking cepted his invitation to attended a "Loyalist Day of Cul-
in enthusiasm for the Belfast Agreement when it ap- ture" organised by Adair on the Lower Shankill on 19
peared in 1998.[12] Throughout 1999 his brigade contin- August 2000. Old tensions resurfaced however and after
ued to be active, undertaking a pipe bomb campaign Adair’s men fought with UVF supporters at the Shankill’s
against Catholic homes whilst on 12 May members of Rex Bar Adair launched a pogrom of the lower Shankill,
his brigade shot and wounded a Catholic builder in Car- forcing out all UVF members and their families and initi-
rickfergus under the cover name "Protestant Liberation ating a loyalist feud.[19]
Force". Much of this activity was inspired by Gregg’s per- Gregg initially remained aloof from the struggle and
sonal hatred of Catholics.[13] Indeed a senior police instead concentrated on his anti-Catholic campaign.
source once described him as a man driven by "pure and However in the second half of 2002 he was dragged into
absolute bigotry".[1] Gregg was also characterised as "a the conflict after Adair made him a target in his own at-
bully, a racketeer, and a sectarian bigot who took partic- tempts to take full control of the UDA. A UDA member
ular delight in carrying out vicious punishment attacks originally from the Woodvale Road had moved to Rath-
and randomly targeting Roman Catholics."[10] In 2000 he coole where he had been beaten up after it emerged that
helped to ensure that a proposal before the Inner Council he was a friend of Joe English, the former brigadier who
to initiate the decommissioning of weapons was reject- had been exiled from the estate by Gregg for his anti-
ed.[14] drugs stance.[20] As a result of the attack three Woodvale
Having witnessed demographic shifts in Glengormley UDA members went to Gregg and complained about the
and Crumlin, traditionally unionist towns that had be- attack. Gregg took this as a threat and, after complaining
come majority nationalist on account of people moving to senior figures in the West Belfast UDA, ordered the
out of Belfast, he determined that the same thing would three men to be kneecapped.[21] The shootings raised
not happen in Carrickfergus and Larne and so launched some anger on the Shankill, where the three were well-
a campaign of pipe bomb and arson attacks on Catholic liked figures, and Adair sought to exploit this as a method
homes. Perhaps the main target proved to be Danny of getting rid of Gregg. He sought to portray Gregg as
O’Connor, a Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) unstable and thuggish and spread a rumour that he was
representative on initially Larne Borough Council and about to be replaced as brigadier.[22] By September Adair
then the Northern Ireland Assembly, whose home and of- had even circulated stories to contacts in the media that
fice were attacked at least twelve times by Gregg’s men Gregg was under death threat from the UDA.[20] Indeed in
between 2000 and 2002.[15] Trevor Lowry (aged 49) was late August Adair had even managed to have Gregg stood
beaten to death in Glengormley by UDA members under down as Brigadier for "not being militant enough" and
Gregg’s command on 11 April 2001 after he was mistaken replaced by one his own associates.[5] This proved short-
for a Catholic.[16] lived however and in October 2002 Gregg was one of the
In late 2001, Gregg’s reign of terror in Rathcoole, brigadiers who passed the resolution expelling Adair
where drug dealing, knee-capping and savage beatings from the UDA for his involvement in the murder of Jim
were the norm, was challenged by local labour councillor Gray.[23]
Mark Langhammer, who also objected to Gregg’s close Adair ignored the expulsion, erecting "West Belfast
links to neo-Nazi groups in the United Kingdom.[9] He UDA - Business as Usual" banners on the Shankill Road,
called on the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to whilst continuing his struggles with the remaining
establish an auxiliary police "clinic" on the estate, which brigadiers, Gregg in particular.[24] On 8 December a bomb
had no permanent police building, so as locals concerned was found under Gregg’s car, apparently placed there by
about crime could have somewhere to go.[17] This fol- one of Adair’s allies from the Loyalist Volunteer Force.[25]
lowed in summer 2002 when a community centre was Soon after two pipe bombs were thrown at Gregg’s house
taken over for this purpose although Gregg’s UDA object- and his friend Tommy Kirkham’s house was shot at.[26] In
ed and daubed the building with the word "tout".[17] On response graffiti appeared around the walls of Rathcoole
4 September Langhammer’s car was blown up outside his in December, stating "Daft Dog and White beware. The
Whiteabbey home by Gregg’s men, although Langham- Reaper is coming for you" as a threat to "Mad Dog" Adair
mer himself was asleep at the time and no one was inju- and his ally John White.[27] A bomb attack on Adair’s
red.[16] house on 8 January 2003 was blamed on Gregg by White,
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia John Gregg (UDA)
Other offices
Preceded by Ulster Defence Association South East Antrim Succeeded by
Joe English Brigadier Gary Fisher
1990s–2003
although Adair himself was returned to prison two days [6] McDonald & Cusack, UDA, p. 279
later after a dossier detailing his drug-dealing and rack- [7] Ian S. Wood, Crimes of Loyalty: A History of the UDA,
eteering activities was shown to Secretary of State for Edinburgh University Press, 2006, p. 200
Northern Ireland Paul Murphy.[28] [8] McDonald & Cusack, UDA, p. 289
[9] ^ McDonald & Cusack, UDA, p. 348
Death and aftermath [10]
[11]
^ The Times 3 February 2003
McDonald & Cusack, UDA, p. 292
In February 2003, along with another UDA member, Rab [12] McDonald & Cusack, UDA, p. 302
Carson, he was killed on Nelson Street, near Belfast [13] McDonald & Cusack, UDA, pp. 311-312
docks, while travelling in a taxi after returning from [14] McDonald & Cusack, UDA, p. 317
Glasgow where he regularly went to watch Rangers [15] McDonald & Cusack, UDA, pp. 344-345
F.C.[10] Gregg had been a regular visitor to Ibrox Park [16] ^ McDonald & Cusack, UDA, p. 350
for a number of years, often in the company of Michael [17] ^ McDonald & Cusack, UDA, p. 349
Stone, and had even picked up a conviction for violence [18] McDonald & Cusack, UDA, p. 314
at an Old Firm match. Gregg’s movements were known [19] McDonald & Cusack, UDA, p. 327
to C Company member Alan McCullough who, receiving [20] ^ McDonald & Cusack, UDA, p. 369
instruction from Adair who was at the time in HMP [21] McDonald & Cusack, UDA, pp. 369-370
Maghaberry, arranged for a hit team to kill Gregg and his [22] McDonald & Cusack, UDA, p. 370
associate as a taxi took them from the port of Belfast.[29] [23] McDonald & Cusack, UDA, p. 374
Gregg’s 18 year old son Stuart was also in the car but was [24] McDonald & Cusack, UDA, pp. 374-375
not hurt in the attack.[28] At the time of his death, Gregg [25] David Lister & Hugh Jordan, Mad Dog: The Rise and
was married with one son and two stepdaughters. Fall of Johnny Adair and ’C’ Company, Mainstream,
Gregg’s death proved to be the undoing of Adair. De- 20o4, p. 323
spite his reputation for gangsterism Gregg’s attack on [26] Lister & Jordan, Mad Dog, p. 325
Gerry Adams had afforded him legendary status and, un- [27] McDonald & Cusack, UDA, p. 377
der the direction of Jackie McDonald, the remaining UDA [28] ^ Lister & Jordan, Mad Dog, pp. 326-327
brigadiers concluded that Adair had to be removed.[30] [29] McDonald & Cusack, UDA, pp. 382-383
Gregg was given a paramilitary funeral which was at- [30] McDonald & Cusack, UDA, p. 383
tended by thousands of mourners. A volley of shots was [31] McDonald & Cusack, UDA, p. 385
fired over his coffin by UDA gunmen outside his Rath- Persondata
coole home. Afterwards a lone piper led the cortege to
Name Gregg, John
Carnmoney Cemetery where he was buried. At the ser-
vice on 6 February, UVF representatives joined the UDA Alternative names
leadership in a show of anti-Adair solidarity. That same Short description
night Jackie McDonald’s forces invaded the lower Date of birth 1957
Shankill and ran those members of C Company that had
remained loyal to Adair, who was still in prison, out of Place of birth
the city.[31] Date of death 1 February 2003
Place of death Belfast, Northern Ireland
References
[1] ^ BBC profile
[2] ^ "Loyalists on brink of war as UDA chief is shot
dead". The Guardian. Rosie Cowan. 3 February 2003
[3] ^ Henry McDonald & Jim Cusack, UDA - Inside the
Heart of Loyalist Terror, Penguin Ireland, 2004, p. 129
[4] McDonald & Cusack, UDA, pp. 129-130
[5] ^ Guardian, 25 August 2002
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia John Gregg (UDA)
Categories:
• 1957 births
• 2003 deaths
• Ulster Defence Association members
• Loyalists imprisoned during the Northern Ireland conflict
• People killed by loyalist paramilitaries
• Deaths by firearm in Northern Ireland
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