Jackie Coulter (22 May 1954"Daughter shocked by body parts letter"
''UTV News'' 16 May 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2012 – 21 August 2000) was a member of a

loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

from

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

who held the rank of lieutenant in the

Ulster Defence Association The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalism, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and Timeline of Ulster Defence Association act ...

(UDA). He was killed by the rival loyalist paramilitary organisation the

Ulster Volunteer Force The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former British Army soldier from Northern Ireland. The group undertook an armed campaig ...

(UVF), as the result of a feud within loyalism.

Paramilitary activity

Coulter, brought up as a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

, and a native of the loyalist

Shankill Road The Shankill Road () is one of the main roads leading through West Belfast, in Northern Ireland. It runs through the working-class, predominantly loyalist, area known as the Shankill. The road stretches westwards for about from central Belfast a ...

area of Belfast joined the UDA at an unknown date as a member of his local West Belfast Brigade. He acquired the rank of Lieutenant and was described as being a close ally of UDA brigadier and leading loyalist

Johnny Adair John Adair (born 27 October 1963), better known as Johnny Adair or Mad Dog Adair, is an Ulster loyalist and the former leader of the "C Company", 2nd Battalion Shankill Road, West Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF). This was a ...

. He resided in St Mary's Court, a side street between the Shankill Road and the

Crumlin Road The Crumlin Road is a main road in north-west Belfast, Northern Ireland. The road runs from north of Belfast City Centre for about four miles to the outskirts of the city. It also forms part of the longer A52 road which leads out of Belfast to t ...

and was married to wife Agnes having four children. "UDA buries second loyalist feud victim"
''The Guardian'' 26 August 2000. Retrieved 19 October 2012 Coulter was recognised as the commander of "C3A Commandos", a unit of C Company, the lower Shankill section of the West Belfast Brigade. He was also known to act as a driver for Johnny Adair. One of Coulter's children, his daughter Tracey, lived with

Stephen McKeag Stephen McKeag (1 April 1970 – 24 September 2000), nicknamed ''Top Gun'', was a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary and a Commander of the Ulster Defence Association's (UDA) 'C' Company in the 1990s. He is responsible for many killings of Ca ...

for a time although the relationship soured amid allegations of

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

. Coulter had complained to Adair about his daughter's treatment shortly before his death and in response Adair sent a punishment squad to his former friend's home with McKeag beaten severely and expelled from C Company.

Loyalist feud

Before Coulter's death, tension between the two main loyalist paramilitary had been building. The cause of the feud was attributed to the actions of Johnny Adair and his alliance with the dissident loyalist faction the

Loyalist Volunteer Force The Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) is a small Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed by Billy Wright in 1996 when he and his unit split from the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) after breaking its ceasefire. Most of ...

(LVF).The UVF had a tense relationship with the LVF since its formation as a breakaway group from the UVF led by Billy Wright. Amidst an atmosphere of increasing tension in the area, Adair decided to host a "Loyalist Day of Culture" on the Shankill on Saturday, 19 August 2000, which saw around a dozen new murals officially unveiled in his lower Shankill powerbase. The UVF leadership, who had been given assurances that no LVF regalia would be displayed on the Shankill on the day of the parade, as well as the rest of the UDA outside of Adair's "C Company", Adair obtained a LVF flag which he planned to have unfurled as the parade passed the Rex Bar, a bar located in the middle of the Shankill Road and which is associated with the UVF, with the obvious intent of antagonising the UVF. Adair waited until the majority of the parade had made its way up the Shankill Road before initiating the provocative gesture of having the LVF flag unfurled outside the Rex. When this happened skirmishes broke out between UVF members who had been standing outside the premises watching the parade and those who had unfurled the contentious flag. Prior to this the atmosphere at the Rex had been relaxed, with the UVF spectators even joining in to sing UDA songs along to the tunes of the UDA-aligned flute bands that accompanied the approximately 10,000 UDA marchers on their parade up the Shankill. But bitter fighting ensued, with around 300 C Company (the name given to the lower Shankill unit of the UDA's West Belfast Brigade) members attacking the patrons of the Rex, initially with hand weapons such as bats and iron bars, before they shot up the bar as its patrons barricaded themselves inside. Also targeted with gunfire was the

Progressive Unionist Party The Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) is a minor 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. Linked to the Ulster Volunte ...

(PUP) headquarters that faced the pub. C Company then went on the rampage in the lower Shankill, attacking the houses of known UVF members and their families, including the home of veteran UVF leader

Gusty Spence Augustus Andrew Spence (28 June 1933
. ''

Maze prison Her Majesty's Prison Maze (previously Long Kesh Detention Centre, and known colloquially as The Maze or H-Blocks) was a prison in Northern Ireland that was used to house alleged paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles from August 1971 to Sept ...

on visiting days.David McKittrick et al, ''Lost Lives'', Mainstream Publishing, 2008, p. 1481

Death

Two days later, on 21 August, the UVF initiated retaliation for the UDA's action. Parked in a

Land Rover Discovery Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various isla ...

outside a bookmakers on the Crumlin Road with former UVF member Bobby Mahood, Coulter was spotted by a young, inexperienced UVF gunman. Ironically, the two men were believed to have been discussing a solution for easing the recent tension between the two groups. Coulter was killed instantly in the attack and Mahood died a few hours later. The target of the attack had actually been

Jackie Mahood Jackie Mahood (born c. 1954) is a Northern Irish former loyalist activist with both the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and Progressive Unionist Party (PUP). He later split from these groups and became associated with the breakaway Loyalist Volun ...

, a leading figure in the Belfast LVF, with the inexperienced gunman mistaking Bobby Mahood for his brother. Although the killing was not directly claimed by the UVF the

, the UVF's political wing, admitted that the UVF had been behind the killings. Both Adair and John White arrived on the scene in the immediate aftermath of the shooting and held an impromptu press conference in which they blamed the killings on the UVF. Coulter's funeral was held four days later on 25 August. Notable figures from within loyalism attended the funeral, including John White and

Frank McCoubrey Frank McCoubrey (born 5 February 1967) is a Unionist politician and loyalist in Northern Ireland, as well as a community activist and researcher. He is a leading member of the Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG) and a member of Belfast City ...

. All six brigades of the UDA were represented and the LVF was represented by one of its senior members Gary Fulton, who laid a wreath. In all, around 1000 people attended the funeral. The funeral left Coulter's home on St Mary's Court on the Shankill. The cortege briefly stopped at the spot where Coulter was killed outside a betting shop on the Crumlin Road. A flatbed lorry containing floral tributes with blacked out number plates led the cortege. Businesses along the route were closed and there was a heavy police and army presence in the back streets around the Shankill in case of trouble. Coulter was buried in

Roselawn Cemetery Roselawn Cemetery ( ga, Reilig Phlásóg na Rós) (also known as Roselawn) is a large cemetery and crematorium on the outskirts of Belfast in Northern Ireland. It opened in 1954. It is owned and operated by Belfast City Council. It is located on ...

where a UDA statement expressing "disgust at the cowardly and brutal murder" was read out.

Aftermath

The UDA avenged Coulter's death by killing 22-year-old UVF member Sam Rocket at his girlfriend's home at Summer Street in the Oldpark Road area of Belfast. The Lower Oldpark, a small loyalist enclave close to the

republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Cliftonville and

Ardoyne Ardoyne () is a working class and mainly Catholic and Irish republican district in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. It gained notoriety due to the large number of incidents during The Troubles. Foundation The village of Ardoyne was founded in ...

areas, was known as a stronghold of Adair's C Company. Rocket like Coulter was also buried at Roselawn Cemetery. The feud continued on as more killings were carried on until its end in November 2000 including that of UDA member Tommy English. Coulter is commemorated on a wall mural in Boundary Way on the Lower Shankill. One of Coulter's daughters, Tracey, in 2009, had her home attacked on two occasions and received death threats from the UVF. She believed the attacks were linked to an investigation into the circumstances surrounding her father's death."Shankill woman gets UVF death threat"
''UTV News'' 3 June 2010 In May 2012,Tracey Coulter gave an interview stating that although her family had given permission at the time for the police to retain part of her father's skull for investigative purposes, they received a letter from the

Police Service of Northern Ireland The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ga, Seirbhís Póilíneachta Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ') is the police, police force that serves Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabu ...

telling her that more body parts of her deceased father may have been retained.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coulter, Jackie 1954 births 2000 deaths 2000 murders in the United Kingdom 20th-century people from Northern Ireland Deaths by firearm in Northern Ireland Male murder victims Paramilitaries from Belfast People murdered in Belfast Ulster Defence Association members Unsolved murders in Northern Ireland

Paramilitary activity

Loyalist feud

Death

Aftermath

See also

References