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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. 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. [47] The RT programme Today Tonight aired a documentary in 1987 in which it claimed that former UVF associates of Harris Boyle revealed to the programme's researchers that Nairac had deliberately detonated the bomb to eliminate Boyle, with whom he had carried out the Green killing. He was charged with the Miami Showband murders and the attempted murder of bass player Stephen Travers, as well as the murder of Patrick Falls in 1974. Halfway to Newry, their minibus was stopped at what appeared to be a military checkpoint where gunmen in British Army uniforms ordered them to line up by the roadside. The HET said the killings raised "disturbing questions about collusive and corrupt behaviour". 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. [99], The findings noted in the report confirmed Mid-Ulster UVF leader Robin Jackson's involvement and identified him as an RUC Special Branch agent. 8 in the Irish charts. She furthermore opined that Jackson was the man Travers saw kicking McCoy's body to make sure he was dead. 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. "Robin Jackson and John Somerville had been very close friends since joining the Mid-Ulster UVF. The band was travelling home to Dublin late at night after a performance in Banbridge. [34], Thomas Crozier recounted that on the night of the killings, he had driven to the grounds of a school in Lurgan where he had picked up two men. View On One Page Photo 22 of 51 ADVERTISEMENT () Start Slideshow . On April 17, 1975, Somerville and Jackson blew up a Catholic-owned cottage which was being renovated at Killyliss between Dungannon and Ballygawley. What little that remained intact of their bodies was burnt beyond recognition; one of the limbless torsos was completely charred.[20]. 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. [5], UK Home Secretary Roy Jenkins introduced the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which gave the government unprecedented powers against the liberty of individuals in the United Kingdom in peacetime. [62] One report says it was stopped at a fake British Army checkpoint. It was a forgiveness that few of the relatives of his victims were willing to give. [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. One of these men, Lance-Corporal Thomas Raymond Crozier (aged 25, a painting contractor from Lurgan) of C Company, 11th Battalion UDR was charged with the Miami killings. It took place on the A1 road at Buskhill in County Down, Northern Ireland. [37] They had hoped to embarrass the Government of Ireland, as well as to draw attention to its level of control of the border. They were driving home from a Gaelic football match in Dublin. [53] In a letter to the Independent Commission of Inquiry into the Bombing of Kay's Tavern dated 22 February 2004, the Northern Ireland Office stated that: "The PSNI have confirmed that a 9mm Luger pistol was ballistically traced both to the murder of John Francis Green and to the Miami Showband murders. [68] McDowell had pleaded guilty. The scene of The Miami Showband Massacre According to RT, "Their families were in deep mourning and Ireland mourned with them". 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. Laat uw merk op authentieke wijze groeien door uw merkcontent te delen met de makers van het internet. Organiseer, beheer, distribueer en meet al uw digitale content. Aaron Carter's mom releases shocking pictures of his 'death scene' bathroom in desperate bid to get cops to probe his death as a crime despite coroner saying it was an accidental drugs overdose Three UVF members are being treated for gunshot wounds after last night but not in hospital. Ray Millar, the band's drummer, was not with them as he had chosen to go to his home town of Antrim to spend the night with his parents. More than 100 killings have been attributed to him by the Pat Finucane Centre, the Derry-based civil rights group.[15][17]. [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]. O'Toole and McCoy were both married; each had two children. The emergence of discos later in the decade meant that ballrooms were converted into nightclubs, leaving the showbands with few venues available in which to perform. [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. 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. The explosion ripped through the building, killing 21-year-old married woman Marion Bowen, who was eight months pregnant at the time. Martin Dillon suggested in The Dirty War that at least five serving UDR soldiers were present at the checkpoint. It took place on the A1 road at Buskhill in County Down, Northern Ireland. Two of the gunmen, both soldiers, died when a time bomb they were hiding on the minibus exploded prematurely. However, Martin Dillon alleged that the bomb was meant to go off in the Irish Republic. By the mid-1980s, the showbands had lost their appeal for the Irish public; although The Miami Showband, albeit with a series of different line-ups, did not disband until 1986. [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. ;UVF killer Harris Boyle who died in the attack. The scene of the Miami Showband massacre Somerville would never. The patrol sergeant immediately ordered the patrol to shoot back. [69], A third person, former UDR soldier John James Somerville (aged 37, a lorry-helper and the brother of Wesley), was arrested following an RUC raid in Dungannon on 26 September 1980. Optimieren Sie Ihren Workflow mit unserem erstklassigen Digitalen Asset Management System. 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. Het ontwerp van Getty Images is een handelsmerk van Getty Images. [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. They had seven number one records on the Irish singles chart . [44] The independent panel of inquiry commissioned by the Pat Finucane Centre 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". [8] The brigade was described by author Don Mullan as one of the most ruthless units operating in the 1970s. . [10][11] Hanna was named by former British Intelligence Corps operative Colin Wallace as having organised and led the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings, along with Jackson. [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. [clarification needed] James McDowell lives in Lurgan, and John James Somerville became an evangelical minister in Belfast. He relayed all his instructions to the gunman in command. No one coerced me. The dead bombers were named by the UVF, in a statement issued within 12 hours of the attack. The ruthless UVF killer fell into a deep depression fuelled by alcohol. 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. There are also allegations that British military intelligence agents were involved. No one forced me. [48] Harris Boyle and Wesley Somerville were UDR soldiers as well as holding the rank of major and lieutenant, respectively, in the UVF. 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 . Five members of the Dublin-based band were travelling home after a performance at the Castle Ballroom in Banbridge, County Down, on Thursday 31 July 1975. Using self-loading rifles and sub-machine guns, the patrol shot back, killing three of their attackers and wounding another. Aged 70, he died of cancer of the kidney. "Special Branch Agent colluded in Miami killings". The RUC were led to him through his glasses which had been found at the murder scene. The UVF man, who identified himself only as "the Craftsman", apologised to Travers for the attack, and explained that the UVF gunmen shot the band because they "had panicked" that night. In this adult animated comedy, Elvis trades his jumpsuit for a jetpack when he joins a secret spy program to stop villains from destroying the world. [53] The judge, by sentencing McDowell and Crozier to 35 years imprisonment each, had handed down the longest life sentences in the history of Northern Ireland; he commented that "killings like the Miami Showband must be stopped". But along with his friend Jackson, he helped build the UVF in mid-Ulster. [5] Their fears were slightly grounded in fact, as the MI6 officer Michael Oatley was involved in negotiations with a member of the IRA Army Council, during which "structures of disengagement" from Ireland were discussed. [21] He was replaced by Johnny Brown, who in turn was replaced by Dave Monks until Stephen Travers eventually became the band's permanent bass player. [19], In 1994, Eric Smyth, a former UDR member and the husband of Brian McCoy's sister, Sheila, was killed by the IRA. The scene of the Miami Showband Killings on the A1 road at Buskhill in County Down, Northern Ireland, 31st July 1975. [9] According to authors Paul Larkin and Martin Dillon, Jackson was accompanied by Harris Boyle when he killed Hanna. And after stopping GAA fans 22-year-old Colm McCartney and 32-year-old John Farmer, they shot them dead. It is fronted by McAlea, who returned to Northern Ireland the same year after living in South Africa since about 1982. [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. [66] RUC officer John Weir claims that UDR corporal and alleged UVF member Robert McConnell was involved in the attack. 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. The scene of the Miami Showband killings in County Down, Northern Ireland, on 31 July 1975. He was one of the men taken in by the RUC in August 1975 and questioned as a suspect in the killings, but was released without charge. [4] Despite the heavy gunfire, Tony Geraghty and Fran O'Toole attempted to carry a severely injured Stephen Travers to safety, but were unable to move him far. A musician who survived the Miami showband massacre has, 40 years on, made an appeal to trace a young couple who helped him at the time. [90] The encounter took place inside Hudson's church, All Souls Belfast. [43], Ballistic evidence indicates that the 10-member gang took at least six guns with them on the attack. Free shipping for many products! It has been suggested that the bomb was meant to explode en route, so that the victim band members would appear to be Irish Republican Army (IRA) bomb-smugglers and stricter security measures would be established at the border. [13] Dillon suggested that because there were a number of UDR members in the UVF, and were planned to be used for the Miami Showband ambush, Hanna was considered to have been a "security risk", and the UVF decided he had to be killed before he could alert the authorities. [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. Crozier had pleaded not guilty. [70] Crozier, McDowell, and Somerville were released after 1998 under the terms of the Belfast Agreement. [35] Dillon also opined in God and the Gun: The Church and Irish Terrorism that the dead bombers, Harris Boyle and Wesley Somerville, had actually led the UVF gang at Buskhill. According to former Intelligence Corps agent Captain Fred Holroyd, the killings were organised by British intelligence officer Robert Nairac, together with the UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade and its commander Robin "the Jackal" Jackson. Weir's affidavit implicating Robin Jackson in a number of attacks including the 1974 Dublin bombings was published in the 2003 Barron Report; the findings of an official investigation into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings commissioned by Irish Supreme Court Judge Henry Barron. Over the following month, there were two similar attacks in the area. Despite his conversion to Christianity, Somerville remained virulently anti-Catholic and he strongly opposed the Good Friday Agreement. [19] They also discovered a stolen white Ford Escort registration number 4933 LZ,[43] which had been left behind by the gunmen, along with two guns, ammunition, green UDR berets and a pair of glasses later traced to James McDowell, the gunman who had allegedly ordered the shootings. [4] The band had no overt interest in politics nor in the religious beliefs of the people who made up their audience. [47] The UVF gunmen had worn green UDR berets, whereas the other man's had been lighter in colour. It was . It comprised elements of the British security forces who, together with the UVF, carried out sectarian killings in the Mid-Ulster/County Armagh area. [18][27] The unsuspecting band members got out and were politely told to line up facing the ditch at the rear of the minibus with their hands on their heads. The Miami Showband's surviving members Des Lee, Ray Miller and Stephen Travers Credit . That same year, keyboardist Francis (Fran) O'Toole (from Bray, County Wicklow) had won the Gold Star Award on RT's Reach For the Stars television programme. [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. [55] Both the silencer and pistol which was later established to have been the same one used in the Miami Showband killings were found by the security forces at the home of Edward Sinclair. 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. 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. . [35], On 22 January 1976, a second UDR soldier, Sergeant James Roderick Shane McDowell (aged 29, an optical worker, also from Lurgan) was arrested and charged with the Miami killings. [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. [18][22] Meanwhile, two other gunmen at the front of the minibus were placing the briefcase containing the bomb under the driver's seat. Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention, Timeline of Ulster Volunteer Force actions, "Sunningdale pushed hardliners into fatal outrages in 1974", "Events: Dublin and Monaghan Bombs Chronology of Events", "Collusion in the South Armagh / Mid Ulster Area in the mid-1970s", "All About the Miami Showband (19611996)", "The Miami Band Lined Up Against the Van. The Miami Showband massacre in 1975, had a devastating effect on the showband and live music scene. Although this information was passed on to RUC headquarters, nothing was done about it. 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. But it went nowhere when a senior RUC officer advised the UVF leader to lie low for a while. 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. [2] On 4 April 1974, the proscription against the UVF had been lifted by Merlyn Rees, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. 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. On July 30, 1972, the final details. [5] This move made loyalists apprehensive and suspicious that a secret accord was being conducted between the British government and the IRA, and that Northern Ireland's Protestants would be "sold out". [25] As McCoy rolled down the window and produced his driving licence, gunmen came up to the minibus and one of them said in a Northern Irish accent, "Goodnight, fellas. But two other UVF men, Thomas Crozier and James McDowell - both soldiers in the UDR - were jailed for life. Two serving UDR soldiers and one former UDR soldier were found guilty of the murders and received life sentences; they were released in 1998. The band's road manager, Brian Maguire, had already gone ahead a few minutes earlier in the equipment van. Pinnwnde sind ideal zum Speichern von Bildern und Videoclips. [29] Travers also stepped up to the gunmen and told them to be careful with his guitar. [72][73] Surviving band members Stephen Travers and Des McAlea told police and later testified in court that a British Army officer with a "crisp, clipped English accent" oversaw the attack, the implication being that this was Nairac. John Somerville was born in 1940 into a respectable small farming family from outside Moygashel, Co Tyrone. [22][91] It was revealed in Peter Taylor's book Loyalists that "the Craftsman" had been instrumental in bringing about the 1994 Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC) ceasefire. Bei kommerzieller Verwendung sowie fr verkaufsfrdernde Zwecke kontaktieren Sie bitte Ihr. It was his brother Wesley's arm," said the source. Jackson was charged with possession of the silencer but not convicted, the trial 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". The government held the view that the British Government had not done enough to stop sectarian assassinations in Northern Ireland. In a police statement made following his arrest for possession of the silencer and Luger on 31 May 1976, Jackson maintained that a week before he was taken into custody, two RUC officers had tipped him off about the discovery of his fingerprints on the silencer; he also claimed they had forewarned him: "I should clear as there was a wee job up the country that I would be done for and there was no way out of it for me". Travers was not able to positively identify Nairac, from his photograph, as having been the man at Buskhill. [58] He was later shot dead in Portadown on 25 January 1976, allegedly by Jackson for having informed the RUC about Thomas Crozier's participation in the attack. Geraghty was engaged to be married. "[54] In May 1976, Robin Jackson's fingerprints were discovered on the metal barrel of a home-made silencer constructed for a Luger. The patrol later recovered two Armalite rifles and a pistol. The latest from Netflix's ReMastered series focusses on the Miami Showband massacre, which took place at Banbridge, Co. Down on July 31, 1975. However, the officers suspected that the checkpoint was fake. [44] None of the men ever named their accomplices, and the other UVF gunmen were never caught. [3] The UVF would be once more banned by the British government on 3 October 1975. Griffin goes on to add that the bogus checkpoint was set up not only to plant the bomb on board the van but to ensure the presence of McCoy which would have been confirmed when he handed over his driving licence to the gunmen. 3/2/2023 1:00 AM PT. 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. As the UUUC would not abide any form of power-sharing with the Dublin government, no agreement could be reached and the convention failed, again marginalising Northern Ireland's politicians and the communities they represented. [18] A typical Irish showband was based on the popular six- or seven-member dance band. He also survived by remaining silent, pretending he was dead. [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]. 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. Crime Scene Photos The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office released graphics images this week, taken in the aftermath of 27-year-old Christian Obumseli's death. Pat Finucane Centre. [35] Regarding the soldier with the English accent, Dillon wrote:[75]. Video: Netflix. Photograph: Independent News and Media/Getty Images At the precise moment of the explosion, the patrol came under intense automatic fire from the occupants of the other vehicle. [19][25][26] During "The Troubles" it was normal for the British Army to set up checkpoints at any time. [20] He survived by pretending he was dead, as he lay beside the body of McCoy. One of the first famous crime scene photos was taken on May 5, 1903, in the home of a Parisian woman named Madame Debeinche who had been murdered. And despite being married with a family, he immersed himself in loyalist terrorism. [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. [76] Retired diplomat Alistair Kerr wrote a biography of Nairac entitled "Betrayal: the Murder of Robert Nairac" published in 2015, which offers documentary evidence that clears Nairac of having been at Buskhill overseeing the attack. It had been blown off his torso when the bomb prematurely exploded as a result of static electricity. [86] Weir alleged the bomb used in the Miami Showband attack came from Mitchell's farm. [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).