Viewing autopsy photographs of her battered body in court on Tuesday, she became teary and asked to take a break. Three band members were shot dead by loyalist gunmen. This is one of the last photographs taken of the band before the massacre on 31st July 1975. But the Sunday World has also learned that on January 4 1976, Jackson was accompanied by John Somerville when he burst into the home of the O'Dowd family at Ballyduggan, near Gilford, shooting three of them dead. A report by the police's Historical Enquiries Team (HET) also suggests this. Miljoenen beelden, videos en muzikale opties van hoge kwaliteit wachten op u. Maak gebruik van de wereldwijde schaalgrootte, data-gedreven inzichten en het netwerk van meer dan 340.000 makers van Getty Images om voor uw merk exclusieve content te creren. It was one of a series of four stamps issued by An Post, celebrating the "golden age of the Irish showband era from the 1950s to the 1970s".[24]. "IRA 'responsible' for killings blamed on loyalists", "Decision as to the admissibility of Application no. Stroomlijn uw workflow met ons toonaangevende beheersysteem voor digitale bestanden. The two men were found shot dead nearby. The scene of The Miami Showband Massacre However, later forensics established that Boyle and Somerville were putting the bomb under the driver's seat and as it tilted on its side it detonated. As they began to enter the vehicle, a bomb was detonated and both men were killed outright. [30][39], When the device was tilted on its side,[30] clumsy soldering on the clock used as a timer caused the bomb to explode prematurely, blowing the minibus apart and killing UVF men Harris Boyle (aged 22, a telephone wireman from Portadown) and Wesley Somerville (aged 34, a textile worker from Moygashel) instantly. [40] Three of the musicians were killed: lead singer Fran O'Toole, trumpeter Brian McCoy, and guitarist Tony Geraghty. [62] The attack was blamed on loyalists; Lost Lives an account of every death in the conflict states that reliable loyalist sources have confirmed the UVF was responsible. [41] Fran O'Toole attempted to run away, but was quickly chased down by the gunmen who had immediately jumped down into the field in pursuit. As they were being questioned, Major Boyle and Lieutenant Somerville began to search the minibus. The Story With thanks to Jimmy Harte, Anto Long and Caroline Allen Dickie's Miami (1962-1972) Few bands in Ireland have had as prolific, and tragic, a history as the Miami. The dead bombers were named by the UVF, in a statement issued within 12 hours of the attack. According to RT, "Their families were in deep mourning and Ireland mourned with them". In prison John Somerville lived a reclusive life. O'Toole and McCoy were both married; each had two children. After meeting a new woman, Somerville settled on the Shankill and for a while he worked in the Harland and Wolff shipyard. [78], The band's road manager, Brian Maguire stated that when he drove away from Banbridge in the lead, a few minutes ahead of the band's minibus, he passed through security barriers manned by the RUC. [19] In early 1973, Billy MacDonald (a.k.a. Findings in a report carried out by the PSNI's Historic Enquiries Team into the Miami atrocity stated that there was fingerprint evidence linking Robin Jackson to the attack. A long battle for justice for three members of a popular Irish music group, Miami Showband, who were murdered during The Troubles in Northern Ireland received a huge boost this week with. [77] However, Ministry of Defence documents released in 2020 contain suggestions that Nairac acquired equipment and uniforms for the Miami Showband killers, and that he was responsible for the planning and execution of the attack itself. Among the large crowd he spotted Billy McCaughey, a former police sergeant and convicted killer who had named his UVF accomplices to investigating detectives. [69] Stephen Travers decried: "We believe the only conclusion possible arising from the HET report is that one of the most prolific loyalist murderers of the conflict was an RUC Special Branch agent and was involved in the Miami Showband attack". Somerville was sent to jail for 35 years and, despite being firmly opposed to the Good Friday Agreement, he was released under its terms after spending just 18 years behind bars. The massacre dealt a blow to Northern Ireland's live music scene, which had brought young Catholics and Protestants together. The Miami Showband was a popular Dublin-based Irish showband, enjoying fame and, according to journalist Peter Taylor, "Beatle-like devotion" from fans on both sides of the Irish border. When McCoy refused, Jackson then hatched his plan to murder McCoy and his bandmates in retaliation for what he viewed as having betrayed the loyalist cause, even macabrely choosing Buskhill as the ambush site due to its similarity to Bus-kill. He was unimpressed by the UVF men he met in the loyalist stronghold. A child of Northern Ireland's Troubles recalls that fateful night when The Miami Showband was ambushed by the Ulster Volunteer Force on this day in 1975. The band was travelling home to Dublin late at night after a performance in Banbridge. [34] Afterward, as Travers recovered in hospital, the other survivor Des McAlea gave the police a description of McDowell as the gunman with a moustache and wearing dark glasses who appeared to have been the leader of the patrol. Brian McCoy was the first to die, having been hit in the back and neck by nine rounds from a 9mm Luger pistol in the initial volley of gunfire. Some wounds are a deep red, with blood vessels clearly visible; others expose underlying tissue. In his flat - which few people visited - Somerville kept a large photograph of Robin Jackson on the wall of his living room. [7] At the time of the attack the Mid-Ulster Brigade was commanded by Robin Jackson, also known as "The Jackal". These were held on 1 May 1975 and the United Ulster Unionist Council (UUUC), which had won 11 out of 12 Northern Irish seats in the February 1974 general election, won a majority again. 10th December, 2014. Over the following month, there were two similar attacks in the area. [28][45] The RUC's investigative unit, the Assassination or "A" Squad of detectives, was set up to investigate the crime and to discover the identities of the UVF gunmen who perpetrated the killings. [53] The three convicted UVF men, although admitting to having been at the scene, denied having shot anyone. ", And he insisted: "The Lord has forgiven me.". [47] The UVF gunmen had worn green UDR berets, whereas the other man's had been lighter in colour. Laat uw merk op authentieke wijze groeien door uw merkcontent te delen met de makers van het internet. December 29, 2022 by Corinne Sullivan. Aged 70, he died of cancer of the kidney. Bei kommerzieller Verwendung sowie fr verkaufsfrdernde Zwecke kontaktieren Sie bitte Ihr. [4] The UVF had cut all ties with Somerville after he had opposed the 1994 ceasefire. Although not a member of any loyalist paramilitary group,[26] he was a close friend of Harris Boyle and the two were often seen together. In a report published in the Sunday Mirror in 1999, Colin Wills called the Miami Showband attack "one of the worst atrocities in the 30-year history of the Troubles". Browse 22 the miami showband stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. Verzamel, beheer en geef commentaar bij uw bestanden. Using a similar terror technique, they set up another fake checkpoint at Cornalaght, Newtownhamilton. Her brothers Seamus and Michael also died in the attack, which was later claimed by the Protestant Action Force, a cover name for the Mid-Ulster UVF. They were both present when the Miami Showband bomb exploded, but the shootings which followed seconds later - including the slaughter of Fran O'Toole - were mainly the work of John Somerville. Their name comes from a farm in Glenanne, County Armagh, which was owned by RUC reservist James Mitchell; according to ex-RUC Special Patrol Group officer John Weir, it was used as a UVF arms dump and bomb-making site. Vergrern Sie die Reichweite Ihrer Marke authentisch und teilen Sie Markeninhalte mit Kreativen im Internet. Using self-loading rifles and sub-machine guns, the patrol shot back, killing three of their attackers and wounding another. 2023 Getty Images. And despite being married with a family, he immersed himself in loyalist terrorism. Travers had described the English-accented man as having been of normal height and thought he had fair hair, but was not certain. The night after the Miami Showband massacre, gunmen shot a minibus near Gilford. [22], According to Peter Taylor, the Provisional IRA's gun and bomb attack on the loyalist Bayardo Bar in Belfast's Shankill Road on 13 August was in retaliation for the Miami Showband ambush. Aaron Carter 's mother believes he was the victim of a crime, not an overdose -- so, she's made the tough decision to let the . The Glenanne gang was a loose alliance of loyalist extremists allegedly operating under the command of British Military Intelligence and/or RUC Special Branch. [34] All the gunmen were members of the UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade and had been lying in wait to ambush the band, having set up the checkpoint just minutes before. She furthermore opined that Jackson was the man Travers saw kicking McCoy's body to make sure he was dead. Miami 1975 - The Massacre In early 1975, bassist Steve Travers replaced Dave Monks. The submachine guns, which had been stolen years earlier from a former member of the B Specials,[52] were linked to prior and later sectarian killings, whereas the Luger had been used to kill leading IRA member John Francis Green the previous January. Note: Initially it was believed that the bomb had been placed in the rear of the minibus and that the closure of the door had triggered the blast. The mother of the late singer-rapper Aaron Carter released photos of the scene of his death Wednesday, calling for a "real . [55] Although ballistic testing had linked the Luger (for which the silencer had been specifically made) to the Miami Showband attack, Jackson was never questioned about the killings after his fingerprints had been discovered on the silencer, and the Miami inquiry team were never informed about these developments. This had meant the possible withdrawal of British troops from Northern Ireland. Jackson had assumed command of the Mid-Ulster UVF just a few days before the Miami Showband attack, after allegedly shooting Hanna dead outside his home in Lurgan on 27 July 1975. I did what I did. Two days before, Jackson and Somerville had carried out a bomb and gun attack at McGleenan's pub in Armagh, killing its owner Jack McGleenan and customers Patrick Hughes and Thomas Morris. [4][22] McAlea made his way up the embankment to the main road where he hitched a lift to alert the RUC at their barracks in Newry. Agent Elvis. The Historical Enquiries Team (HET), which was set up to investigate the more controversial Troubles-related deaths, released its report on the Miami Showband killings to the victims' families in December 2011. [3] The UVF would be once more banned by the British government on 3 October 1975. [36] Dillon opined that another reason the UVF decided to target the Miami Showband was because Irish nationalists held them in high regard; to attack the band was to strike the nationalists indirectly. it is to say the least highly dubious, if not absurd to conclude from such superficial factors that Nairac was present at the Miami murders. This is one of the first real crime scene photos ever taken. The Luger was destroyed by the RUC on 28 August 1978. Martin Dillon suggested in The Dirty War that at least five serving UDR soldiers were present at the checkpoint. Before adjourning the Alex Murdaugh case today, Judge Clifford Newman warned against sharing graphic autopsy photos of Maggie and Paul's bodies that were accidentally shown during the trial.. [19], The 1975 line-up comprised four Catholics and two Protestants. [92], Travers also visited the home of Thomas Crozier, hoping to meet with him but the latter did not come to the door. Former serving Secret Intelligence Service agent Captain Fred Holroyd, and others, suggested that Nairac had organised the attack in co-operation with Robin Jackson and the Mid-Ulster UVF. The fledgling loyalist terror group didn't operate in established command areas and Somerville and Jackson were able to kill at will over a wide geographical area. The other gunmen then started shooting the dazed band members, killing three and wounding two. During that strike on 17 May, the UVF carried out the Dublin and Monaghan car bombings, which killed 33 civilians. They had seven number one records on the Irish singles chart . He believed it was based on the erroneous linkage of Nairac to the earlier murder of IRA man John Francis Green in County Monaghan the same pistol was used in both attacks. However, the flames from the burning hedge (which had been set on fire by the explosion) soon came dangerously close to where he lay; he was forced to leave his hiding spot. [18][22] Meanwhile, two other gunmen at the front of the minibus were placing the briefcase containing the bomb under the driver's seat. He was released in 1998. Hurled in opposite directions, they were both decapitated and their bodies dismembered. [46][49] In 1993, Boyle was named by The Hidden Hand programme as one of the Dublin car bombers. Fortnight Magazine reported that on 1 June 1982, John James Somerville began a hunger strike at the Maze to obtain special category status. Following the explosion pandemonium broke out among the remaining gunmen; shouting obscenities, they started shooting the dazed band members, who had all been blown down into the field below the level of the road from the force of the blast. Please check your inbox to verify your details, Now download the free app for all the latest Sunday World News, Crime, Irish Showbiz and Sport. Just after the arrival of this mysterious soldier, McCoy nudged Travers, who was standing beside him, and reassured him by saying "Don't worry Stephen, this is British Army". Het ontwerp van Getty Images is een handelsmerk van Getty Images. Chris Hudson, a former intermediary between the government of Ireland and the UVF, whose role was crucial to the Northern Ireland peace process. The scene of the Miami Showband killings in County Down, Northern Ireland, on 31 July 1975. While the Miami is synonymous, for many, with the atrocity, the musical tells the whole story of the band, Lynch says, from when it re-formed in 1967, and Fran O'Toole and Des Lee first joined . Robin Jackson died of cancer in May 1998 aged 49. Touts aren't welcome here.". Died from several gunshot wounds. He served in C Company, 11th Battalion UDR. Organisieren, kontrollieren, verteilen und messen Sie alle Ihre digitalen Inhalte. [62][64], On 24 August 1975, Catholic civilians Colm McCartney and Sean Farmer were stopped in their car at what is believed to have been another fake checkpoint at Altnamackin (near Newtownhamilton). The conflict in Northern Ireland, known as "the Troubles", began in the late 1960s. [80] The same panel revealed that about six weeks before the attack, Thomas Crozier, Jackson and the latter's brother-in-law Samuel Fulton Neill, were arrested for the possession of four shotguns. It confirmed that Jackson was linked to the attack by fingerprints. Multiple jurors also cried, covered their mouths and turned away as the graphic. Griffin suggests that McCoy, who originally came from Caledon, County Tyrone, and had strong UDR and Orange Order family connections, was possibly approached at some stage by Jackson with a view of securing his help in carrying out UVF attacks in the Irish Republic. When they agreed he placed it on the ground, opened its case and then went back into line; however this time he stood first in the line-up closest to the minibus when previously he had been third. She also thinks that had everything gone to plan once the bomb was planted in the van McCoy would have been instructed to drive through Newry where the bomb would have gone off and the UVF could then afterwards portray the Miami Showband as IRA members on a mission to blow up the local RUC barracks. Organiseer, beheer, distribueer en meet al uw digitale content. On July 30, 1972, the final details. 1,453 Vintage Crime Scene Photos Premium High Res Photos Browse 1,453 vintage crime scene photos stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. Jackson informed Frazer that John Somerville was due for release. Updated / Monday, 13 Dec 2021 22:28. It had been set up in Lurgan in 1972 by part-time Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) sergeant and permanent staff instructor Billy Hanna, who made himself commander of the brigade. And nearer home, they carried out five operations in one day in the Moy and Stewartstown. Can you step out of the van for a few minutes and we'll just do a check". It allows for commemoration and leaving of flowers at the location itself. The Mid-Ulster Battalion has been assisting the South Down-South Armagh units since the IRA Forkhill boobytrap which killed four British soldiers. The Miami Showband massacre in 1975, had a devastating effect on the showband and live music scene. [2], The UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade operated mainly around the Portadown and Lurgan areas. Unlike Jackson, Somerville was arrested in the wake of the Miami atrocity, but he refused to make a statement and was released without charge. [88], Travers travelled to Belfast in 2006 for a secret meeting with the second-in-command of the UVF's Brigade Staff, in an attempt to come to terms with the killing of his former colleagues and friends. As a teenager with strongly held anti-Catholic views, Somerville joined the B Specials, but he later went to sea as a member of the Merchant Navy. Jackson was never charged with the Miami atrocity. The Miami Showband's surviving members Des Lee, Ray Miller and Stephen Travers Credit . According to Martin Dillon, the order to shoot was given by the patrol's apparent leader, James McDowell,[36] to eliminate witnesses to the bogus checkpoint and subsequent bombing. [63] The IRA has denied responsibility. 3/2/2023 1:00 AM PT. As Maguire continued ahead, up the by-pass toward Newry, he noticed a blue Triumph 2000 pulling-out from where it had been parked in a lay-by. Three band members were shot dead by loyalist gunmen. [33], A stamp was issued in Ireland on 22 September 2010 commemorating the Miami Showband. 5 languages The Miami Showband killings (also called the Miami Showband massacre) [1] was an attack on 31 July 1975 by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group. They subsequently set up a roadblock with "all the trappings of a regular military checkpoint". It was my own personal feelings and convictions at the time these things happened. 14 December 2011. In December 1972, Rock left the band to be briefly replaced by two brothers, Frankie and Johnny Simon. He was given a total of four life sentences (three for the murders of the Miami Showband members and one for the Falls murder) on 9 November 1981; he had pleaded not guilty. [44], McDowell's statement of admission was published in David McKittrick's book Lost Lives:[44]. [23], According to the Irish Times, at the height of Irish showbands' popularity (from the 1950s to the 1970s), up to as many as 700 bands travelled to venues all over Ireland on a nightly basis.[24]. [97] Irish Times diarist, Frank McNally, summed up the massacre as "an incident that encapsulated all the madness of the time". [84], The families held a press conference in Dublin after the report was released. The Miami Showband reformed in 2008, with Stephen Travers, Des McAlea, and Ray Millar, plus new members. At about 2:30am, when the band was seven miles (11km) north of Newry on the main A1 road, their Volkswagen minibus (driven by trumpeter Brian McCoy with bassist Stephen Travers in the front seat beside him) reached the townland of Buskhill. The attack was carried out by loyalist paramilitary group, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and took place while the group, a popular cabaret band, were travelling home to Dublin after a performance. [90] The encounter took place inside Hudson's church, All Souls Belfast. It also devastated the burgeoning live music scene in Northern Ireland.. [14], Jackson was an alleged RUC Special Branch agent who was said by Yorkshire Television's The Hidden Hand: The Forgotten Massacre programme to have had links to both the Intelligence Corps and Captain Robert Nairac. Days before the Miami attack, Robin Jackson murdered William Hanna, the UVF commander in mid-Ulster. The Miami Showband killings (also called the Miami Showband Massacre) was an attack by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group, on 31 July 1975. Those responsible for the attack belonged to the Glenanne gang, a secret alliance of loyalist militants, Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) police officers and UDR soldiers. Three band members were taken from their tour bus and shot . [4], In May 1974, unionists called a general strike to protest against the Sunningdale Agreement an attempt at power-sharing, setting up a Northern Ireland Executive and a cross-border Council of Ireland, which would have given the Government of Ireland a voice in running Northern Ireland. [86] Weir alleged the bomb used in the Miami Showband attack came from Mitchell's farm. In the ensuing confusion the UVF men opened fire on the band, killing three and wounding two. [4] He spoke with an educated English accent and immediately took charge, ordering a man who appeared to have been the leader of the patrol to tell Crozier to obtain their names and dates of birth instead of addresses. At the precise moment of the explosion, the patrol came under intense automatic fire from the occupants of the other vehicle. UVF killer Wesley Somerville who died in the attack. [5] At Christmas 1974 the IRA declared a ceasefire, which theoretically lasted throughout most of 1975. [81] Neill's car was one of those allegedly used in the Buskhill attack. Pat Finucane Centre. Survivors and relatives of those murdered in the Miami Showband massacre are to receive nearly 1.5m (1.75m) in total damages to settle claims over . Two of the gunmen, both soldiers, died when a time bomb they were hiding on the minibus exploded prematurely. crime scene photos 1,913 Vintage Crime Scene Premium High Res Photos Browse 1,913 vintage crime scene stock photos and images available, or search for crime scene photos to find more great stock photos and pictures. Notorious loyalist serial killer Robin Jackson. At 2.30am, their Volkswagen minibus was stopped at a bogus military checkpoint, where gunmen in British Army uniforms ordered the band members to line up by the roadside. He wore a uniform and beret noticeably different from the others. [37] They had hoped to embarrass the Government of Ireland, as well as to draw attention to its level of control of the border. In 1978, he became a born-again Christian. Jane Carter says late son received many threats prior to his death. The attack was carried out by loyalist paramilitary group, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and took place while the group, a popular cabaret band, were travelling home to Dublin after a performance. [21][22], Their music was described as "contemporary and trans-Atlantic", with no reference to the Northern Ireland conflict. The only identifiable body part from the bombers to survive the blast (which had been heard up to 4 miles (6.4km) away) was a severed arm belonging to Wesley Somerville. Twenty minutes before - in what was clearly a co-ordinated operation - another loyalist killer gang made up of police officers and UDR soldiers launched a murder attack on the Reavey family home in Whitecross. The HET said the killings raised "disturbing questions about collusive and corrupt behaviour". [101], A Netflix documentary titled ReMastered: The Miami Showband Massacre was released 22 March 2019, highlighting the efforts of Steve Travers to track down who authorized the attack, for what purposes, and to get an admission of culpability.[102][103]. The following year, Fran O'Toole became the band's lead vocalist after Mick Roche (Billy Mac's replacement) was sacked. They were driving home from a Gaelic football match in Dublin. Our source also claimed John Somerville told him that in an attempt to break him, a police officer entered the interrogation room carrying a severed human arm in a plastic bag. The Miami Showband minibus with five members in all was stopped at a bogus army checkpoint in Northern Ireland and three were killed and two, including Travers, badly injured in July 1975. Despite severe burns sustained in the Miami attack, a month later Jackson was soon back on a murder mission with his trusted fellow killer John Somerville. However, Martin Dillon alleged that the bomb was meant to go off in the Irish Republic. It took place on the A1 road at Buskhill in County Down, Northern Ireland. "They also hoped he would one day take over the leadership of the organisation in mid-Ulster when Robin 'The Jackal' Jackson either stood down or was executed.". [68] McDowell had pleaded guilty. Crozier had pleaded not guilty. [17][87], During the six years from the onset of "the Troubles" until the July 1975 attack, there had never been an incident involving any of the showbands. [85], The Pat Finucane Centre has named the Miami Showband killings as one of the 87 violent attacks perpetrated by the Glenanne gang against the Irish nationalist community in the 1970s. [27], After McCoy told them they were the Miami Showband, Thomas Crozier (who had a notebook) asked the band members for their names and addresses, while the others bantered with them about the success of their performance that night and playfully asking which one was Dickie Rock. [22][44], One of the first RUC men who arrived at Buskhill in the wake of the killings was scenes of crime officer James O'Neill. Site of the massacre; a commemorative plaque shows where the band's minibus was parked in the lay-by. [9] According to authors Paul Larkin and Martin Dillon, Jackson was accompanied by Harris Boyle when he killed Hanna. In a rare interview with the BBC Spotlight programme before his death of kidney cancer in 2015, Somerville spoke only once and very briefly about the Miami Showband Massacre. The band's road manager, Brian Maguire, had already gone ahead a few minutes earlier in the equipment van. In photographs of the Miami Showband in the 1970s he is a slim and beautiful young man in blue denim , bright-eyed and brimming with fun and music and confidence in himself and in the future.. [56], Within 12 hours of the attack, the UVF's Brigade Staff (Belfast leadership based on the Shankill Road) issued a statement. By 1975, they had gained a large following, playing to crowds of people in dance halls and ballrooms across the island.
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