William "Billy" Stobie (1950 – 12 December 2001) was an
Ulster Defence Association
The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and undertook an armed campaign of almost 24 years as one of t ...
(UDA) quartermaster and
RUC Special Branch
RUC Special Branch was the Special Branch of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, and was heavily involved in the British state effort during the Troubles, especially against the Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republica ...
informer
An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a "snitch", "rat", "canary", "stool pigeon", "stoolie", "tout" or "grass", among other terms) is a person who provides privileged information, or (usually damaging) information inten ...
['' Cory Collusion Inquiry Report: Patrick Finucane'' 1 April 2004] who was involved in the shootings of student Adam Lambert in 1987 and solicitor
Pat Finucane in 1989. His 1990 admissions to journalist Neil Mulholland provided new information which led, in February 1999, to
British Irish Rights Watch submitting a confidential report to the
British Government
His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. . This in turn would lead to the reopening of the
Stevens Enquiry
The Stevens Inquiries were three official Her Majesty's Government, British government Inquiry, inquiries led by John Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington, Sir John Stevens concerning collusion in Northern Ireland between loyalist paramilita ...
, which uncovered state/
paramilitary
A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934.
Overview
Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...
collusion
Collusion is a deceitful agreement or secret cooperation between two or more parties to limit open competition by deceiving, misleading or defrauding others of their legal right. Collusion is not always considered illegal. It can be used to att ...
at a level "way beyond" what
Sir John Stevens had originally reported.
Early life
Stobie was a native of loyalist west
Belfast
Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
who joined the UDA for the first time around the time of its foundation in 1971.
[Henry McDonald & Jim Cusack, ''UDA - Inside the Heart of Loyalist Terror'', Penguin Ireland, 2004, p. 143] After a short spell, he left and joined the
British Army
The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
, serving outside
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
. Returning to
Belfast
Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
when his time in the army ended, he rejoined the UDA and served the organisation as an
armourer
Historically, an armourer is a person who makes personal armour, especially plate armour. Historically armourers were often men, but women could also undertake the occupation: for example Alice la Haubergere worked as an armourer in Cheapside i ...
.
Stobie had initially applied to join the
Ulster Volunteer Force
The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalism, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group based in Northern Ireland. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former Royal Ulster Rifles soldier from North ...
but was rejected by that organisation, which feared that he might be a government agent due to his time in the army, and instead rejoined the UDA, where he joined A Company of the
UDA West Belfast Brigade in
Highfield.
[McDonald & Cusack, ''UDA'', pp. 310-311]
Adam Lambert
On 8 November 1987, the IRA detonated a powerful
bomb at the Enniskillen Remembrance Sunday ceremony killing eleven. There was no immediate direct reprisal, partially as a result of an appeal by
Gordon Wilson, father of one of the victims.
[Ian S. Wood, ''Crimes of loyalty: a history of the UDA'', Edinburgh University Press, 2006, p. 125] The exception to this was when
[ Adam Lambert was mistakenly targeted and shot the following day at a building site in Highfield, Belfast. He was a 19-year-old ]Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
student with no criminal record or paramilitary links but was assumed to have been a Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
.
At the Stevens Enquiry
The Stevens Inquiries were three official Her Majesty's Government, British government Inquiry, inquiries led by John Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington, Sir John Stevens concerning collusion in Northern Ireland between loyalist paramilita ...
("Overview & Recommendations"), Stobie admitted supplying the guns for the attack and driving Stephen Harbinson in the getaway car. Both Stobie and Harbinson stated they were sickened by the mistake and for the first time Stobie realised that the UDA was unprofessional.[ Harbinson was also arrested, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Following his release under the ]Good Friday Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) or Belfast Agreement ( or ; or ) is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April (Good Friday) 1998 that ended most of the violence of the Troubles, an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland since the la ...
, he skipped bail
Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when ...
on drug dealing charges in Northern Ireland. He was rearrested on the Costa del Sol
The Costa del Sol (; literally "Coast of the Sun") is a region in the south of Spain in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, comprising the coastal towns and communities along the coastline of the Province of ...
on separate charges of drug trafficking
A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, ...
, kidnapping
Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...
, and arms possession. Once more he was given bail and disappeared.
Discovery as an informer
Stobie's informing did not go unnoticed and in May 1992 he narrowly avoided being killed by other members of the West Belfast Brigade who suspected he was a "tout". At the time Stobie was operating the switchboard at Circle Taxis on the Shankill when their offices were raided by the police and the owners questioned about a taxi that had been ordered to the Glencairn estate. This car had been hijacked by the UVF and used in an abortive operation. West Belfast brigadier
Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...
Johnny Adair
John Adair (born 27 October 1963), better known as Johnny Adair or Mad Dog Adair, is a Northern Irish loyalist and the former leader of the "C Company", 2nd Battalion Shankill Road, West Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF). Th ...
was told by a friend that Stobie had told the police about the incident, and it was decided that he would be shot as an informer.
On the evening of 21 May 1992, Stobie was called to the house of Jackie Thompson on Snugville Street where a party was being held with Adair and fellow UDA members Donald Hodgen, Tommy Potts, and others in attendance. Stobie did not attend so Thompson and Hodgen drove up to his house and dragged him out. They took him to an alleyway where Adair was waiting and, after a struggle, the fleeing Stobie was shot five times in the back and legs. He survived the attack despite his injuries.
Pat Finucane
According to Henry McDonald and Jim Cusack, Stobie provided the gun used to kill Pat Finucane, and they further claimed that once he gave the weapon to the hit team, he called the RUC to let them know that a killing was about to take place. In April 1999, as part of the Stevens Enquiry, Stobie was arrested and charged with Finucane's murder. In June that year, journalist Ed Moloney published Stobie's version of the circumstances of Finucane's death. The charges were later commuted to aiding and abetting
Aiding and abetting is a legal doctrine related to the guilt of someone who aids or abets (encourages, incites) another person in the commission of a crime (or in another's suicide). It exists in a number of different countries and generally al ...
the murder. Stobie's trial eventually collapsed because of the failure of Neil Mulholland, by now Northern Ireland Office
The Northern Ireland Office (NIO; , Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlann Oaffis'') is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for handling Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of S ...
Press Officer, to take the witness stand.
Death
In 2001, Stobie let it be known that he would be willing to testify at an inquiry into Finucane's killing, stating that he would not name loyalists but would name their RUC "handlers". By declaring that he supported the Finucane family's demand for a public inquiry, he effectively made himself a target for his former UDA comrades.
On 12 December 2001, Stobie was shot dead outside his home at Forthriver Road, Glencairn, Belfast. The Red Hand Defenders
The Red Hand Defenders (RHD) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in 1998 by loyalists who opposed the Belfast Agreement and the loyalist ceasefires.[Ulster Television
UTV (formerly Ulster Television, branded on air as ITV1 since 2020) is the ITV (TV network), ITV region covering Northern Ireland, ITV subsidiary and the former on-air name of the free-to-air public broadcast television channel serving the ar ...]
and backed the public inquiry nto the Finucane killing He betrayed his comrades by doing that and for that reason he paid for his treason".[McDonald & Cusack, ''UDA'', p. 352]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stobie, William
1950 births
2001 deaths
Deaths by firearm in Northern Ireland
Loyalists imprisoned during the Northern Ireland conflict
Protestants from Northern Ireland
Paramilitaries from Belfast
People killed by loyalist paramilitaries
Ulster Defence Association members
Irish spies during The Troubles (Northern Ireland)