David J. Templeton (1954 – 24 March 1997) was a minister of the

Presbyterian Church in Ireland The Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI; ; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Prisbytairin Kirk in Airlann'') is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the Republic of Ireland, and the largest Protestant denomination in Northern Ireland. ...

who was murdered in 1997. He had come to public notice when he was 'outed' as a

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

man by the '' Sunday Life'' newspaper.

Life

David Templeton was born in

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna
Placenames Database of Ireland. is a to ...

. After leaving school he had worked as a

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

. In 1976, he had a

kidney transplant Kidney transplant or renal transplant is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). Kidney transplant is typically classified as deceased-donor (formerly known as cadaveric) or living-donor transplantat ...

, the donor being his mother. This led him to change direction in his life and study at the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

intending to go into the Presbyterian ministry. After further studies he was ordained in 1985. As a minister he was a regular contributor to radio broadcasts on

Downtown Radio Downtown Radio is a Hot Adult Contemporary music radio station based in Newtownards, County Down, that serves all of Northern Ireland using a network of FM and DAB transmitters. As of December 2024, the station has a weekly audience of 309, ...

and the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, and was an assistant editor for ''Irish Biblical Studies''. (page 30 in print, page 142 on PDF)

Christian ministry

Templeton was a graduate of

Ulster Polytechnic Ulster University (; Ulster Scots: or ), legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus public research university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially as Ulster, or by the abbreviation UU. It i ...

(

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

Queen's University of Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

, (

M.Th. Master of Theology (, abbreviated ThM, MTh or MTheol, or ''Sacrae Theologiae Magister''; abbreviated STM) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a ...

), and

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a Private university, private seminary, school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Establish ...

(

M.Div. For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and di ...

). He also served as Minister of Trinity Presbyterian Church in

Greyabbey Greyabbey or Grey Abbey is a small village, townland (of 208 acres) and civil parish located on the eastern shores of Strangford Lough, on the Ards Peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies south of Newtownards. Both townland and ...

near

Newtownards Newtownards (; ) is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the most northern tip of Strangford Lough, 10 miles (16 km) east of Belfast, on the Ards Peninsula. It is in the Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Newtow ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

; and previously as Assistant Minister of Duncairn and St Enoch's Presbyterian Church in

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 ...

Death

On 7 February 1997, three men wearing balaclavas entered his home in Ballyduff,

Newtownabbey Newtownabbey ( ) is a large settlement north of Belfast city centre in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is separated from the rest of the city by Cavehill and Fortwilliam golf course, but it still forms part of the Belfast metropolitan area ...

and beat him with baseball bats with spikes driven through them. Following the attack, which had the elements of a paramilitary punishment beating, Templeton was found with a fractured jaw, fractures to both legs and multiple cuts and abrasions to his arms and legs. At the time of the attack, he was Northern Ireland's longest surviving kidney transplant patient. He remained in hospital for several weeks, but was then released as he appeared to be recovering. He died on 24 March, aged 42, after suffering a heart attack from injuries sustained from the beating. He was buried in Larne,

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

. 500 mourners attended his funeral in Gardenmore Presbyterian Church. No group has claimed responsibility for his murder, but it is widely believed that the assault was carried out by elements of 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 ...

(UVF), 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 Cr ...

paramilitary group. When the attack took place, Templeton had recently stepped down as Minister of Trinity Presbyterian Church in

following a front-page story in the '' Sunday Life'' newspaper which revealed that he had recently been stopped by customs officials at

Belfast International Airport Belfast International Airport is an international airport northwest of Belfast in Northern Ireland, and is the main airport for the city of Belfast. Until 1983, it was known as Aldergrove Airport, after the nearby village of Aldergrove, Cou ...

in possession of a gay pornographic video. Templeton co-operated with the authorities and acknowledged that he had purchased the video quite legally from a high street chain store while he was on holiday in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. After investigation, including a search of his church manse, the

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the ...

(RUC) determined to take no further action. A customs official subsequently approached the ''Sunday Life'' newspaper and received payment for detailing the incident and revealing Templeton's identity. Following exposure by the press, he stood down as minister of his congregation, having been told by congregational leaders that his position was untenable. Left without a home, he moved into a rented council house in the Ballyduff estate while exploring alternative career opportunities.

Allegations of police collusion

In 2002, David Templeton's murder was re-examined using the latest forensic science techniques, but this did not lead to any arrests. In 2004, Johnston Brown, a retired detective sergeant, claimed that the RUC covered up murders by Mark Haddock, a UVF commander and

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 ...

for

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 ...

. Templeton identified Haddock in hospital as his assailant. In January 2007, the

Police Ombudsman The Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (OPONI) is a non-departmental public body intended to provide an independent, impartial police complaints system for the people and police under the Police (Northern Ireland) Acts of 1998 ...

issued a report implicating several special branch officers in failing to act on evidence that linked an informer to at least ten murders, but contrary to earlier press speculation the murder of David Templeton was not one of those mentioned, although it did state that further cases are being investigated. , no-one has ever been charged for the murder of David Templeton.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Templeton, David 1954 births 1997 deaths 20th-century Presbyterian ministers from Northern Ireland Murder victims from County Antrim Alumni of Ulster University Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Alumni of the Open University People murdered in Northern Ireland People from Larne Kidney transplant recipients 1997 murders in the United Kingdom Paramilitary punishment attacks in Northern Ireland People killed by the Ulster Volunteer Force Violence against gay men Violence against LGBTQ people in the United Kingdom Violence against men in the United Kingdom Christian clergy from County Antrim