use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , nationality = , organization =

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 ...

, movement =

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 ...

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 ...

, criminal_charges =

Greysteel massacre The Greysteel massacreCrawford, Colin. ''Inside the UDA''. Pluto Press, 2003. p. 193 was a mass shooting that took place on the evening of 30 October 1993 in Greysteel, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Members of the Ulster Defence Assoc ...

, Castlerock killings , criminal_penalty = 12 life sentences,

Maze Prison HM 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 paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles from August 1971 to September 2000. On 15 ...

, criminal_status = Released after seven years, part of

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 ...

, spouse = , partner = , children = Robert Torrens Knight (born 4 August 1969) is a

, who belonged to the North Antrim and Londonderry Brigade of the

(UDA). In 1993 he took part in two

mass murder Mass murder is the violent crime of murder, killing a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. A mass murder typically occurs in a single location where one or more ...

s in

County Londonderry County Londonderry (Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry (), is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty-two Counties of Ireland, count ...

: the

(in which eight

civilian A civilian is a person who is not a member of an armed force. It is war crime, illegal under the law of armed conflict to target civilians with military attacks, along with numerous other considerations for civilians during times of war. If a civi ...

s were shot dead) and the Castlerock killings (in which three civilians and a

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

(IRA) member were killed). After being convicted — along with three others — for the killings, he served seven years in the

before his release in 2000 under the terms of the

Early life

Knight spent his formative years living at his grandmother's farmhouse in the rural area of Aghadowey, County Londonderry, after his parents separated. In early adulthood he developed an

addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behavior that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use can ...

poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...

gambling machines, which resulted in his exposure of stealing money from his grandmother to fund his habit. As a result of this, he was asked to leave the home and moved to the town of

Portstewart Portstewart () is a small seaside town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 7,854 people in the 2021 United Kingdom census. It is a seaside resort, neighbouring both Coleraine in County Londonderry and Portrush in Cou ...

, County Londonderry. Living with a loyalist, he started drinking

alcohol Alcohol may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...

and involving himself with

criminality In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Cane ...

Paramilitary activity

His initial starting point within loyalism was selling a magazine for a loyalist prisoners' association. He progressed to the ranks of the UDA and carried out acts like robberies and punishment beatings. Knight was part of a four-man UDA group sent to conduct an attack in revenge for the Shankill Road bombing. Their target was the Rising Sun bar in Greysteel, where Knight, Stephen Irwin, Jeffrey Deeney and Brian McNeill shot eight dead (six

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

and two Protestants). After the leading gunman, Irwin shouted "

trick or treat Trick-or-treating is a traditional Halloween custom for children and adults in some countries. During the evening of Halloween, on October 31, people in costumes travel from house to house, asking for treats with the phrase "trick or treat". Th ...

", he and Deeney raked the bar with gunfire, while Knight, armed with a shotgun, stood at the door. A total of 19 other people were injured. McNeill was the driver of one of the cars used after the shootings. The attack was claimed by the "Ulster Freedom Fighters" (UFF), a cover name used by the UDA. Knight was given eight

life sentence Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are c ...

s for his part in the Greysteel killings and a further four more for the killings in Castlerock. He served seven years in the Maze Prison before

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 ...

prisoners were granted a general release under the Good Friday Agreement in 2000.Loyalist killer found guilty of assault

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

, 22 October 2009, retrieved 27 October 2009

Allegations of being an informant

According to David McKittrick, there had been rumours that Knight had been a

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

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 ...

.Was this loyalist murderer in the police's pay?
David McKittrick,

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

, 18 February 2006, retrieved 27 October 2009 Suspicions have been voiced by

John Dallat John Dallat (24 March 1947 – 5 May 2020) was an Irish politician in the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) who represented East Londonderry in the Northern Ireland Assembly from 1998 to 2016, and then from 2017 until his death in 2 ...

, a member of the nationalist

Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP; ) is a social democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland Assembly ( MLAs) and two members of Parliament (M ...

(SDLP). Dallat, who said he was in touch with police about Knight before the attacks in Greysteel and Castlerock, claimed they might have been prevented since it was known Knight was an extremist. In 2000 Knight attracted the attention of staff at a bank where he was withdrawing large amounts of money from an account into which £50,000 a year was being paid. The bank's concern was that Knight was involved in

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

, but, when police were contacted, an assurance was given that everything was in order. The money was said to be from a Scottish engineering firm, but the account was quickly closed down. Police ombudsman

Nuala O'Loan Nuala Patricia O'Loan, Baroness O'Loan, (born 20 December 1951), is a public figure in Northern Ireland. From 1999 to 2007, she was the first Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. In July 2009, it was announced that she was to be appointed t ...

investigated Dallat's claim that police had prior information about Greysteel, stating that there was no evidence this was the case. She also stated that Knight's conviction and sentence led her to believe that he was not being protected by police, but added that it was beyond her remit to investigate whether or not he was a paid informer.

Alleged membership of Apprentice Boys

In 2008

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

councillor Billy Leonard claimed that Knight was a member of the

Kilrea Kilrea ( , ) is a village, townland and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It gets its name from the ancient church that was located near where the current Church of Ireland is located on Church Str ...

branch of the Apprentice Boys. It was claimed that Knight took part in a parade in Kilrea and laid a wreath at the

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty grave, tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere or have been lost. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although t ...

in the village. The Kilrea branch of the Apprentice Boys denied this, as did Knight himself. A spokesman stated that Knight was not a member and that they will demand an apology and explanation from Sinn Féin. Knight also stated that John Dallat and Billy Leonard were taking part in a "hate campaign" against him and challenged the nationalist politicians "to get off his back".

2009 conviction

In October 2009, Knight was found guilty of

assault In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or consent, unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may ...

ing two sisters in a bar in

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...

. As a result, his early release licence was suspended and he was returned to jail. He was later sentenced to four months in prison for the assault. The judge said "The injuries sustained were consistent with a vicious attack on the two women and of particular concern in this case is that you kicked Ms Nicholl while she was on the ground, prone and unable to defend herself.... People who do that can expect no mercy or sympathy from these courts. You acted as a bully when you approached these sisters. You lost control and lashed out". After Knight was returned to prison in 2009 it was revealed that Trevor Collins, a member of

Jim Allister James Hugh Allister (born 2 April 1953) is a Northern Irish unionist politician and barrister who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North Antrim since the 2024 general election. He founded the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) in 20 ...

Traditional Unionist Voice The Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. In common with all other Northern Irish unionist parties, the TUV's political programme has as its '' sine qua non'' the preservation of Northern Ireland's pl ...

political party from

Garvagh Garvagh ( or ''Garbhachadh'' meaning "rough field") is a village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is on the banks of the Agivey River, south of Coleraine on the A29 route. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 1,288. It is sit ...

, was collecting signatures campaigning for his release from prison. The TUV said it would not be taking action against Collins for instigating the petition. Knight was released on 6 August 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Torrens 1969 births 20th-century British criminals 21st-century British criminals British male criminals British mass murderers Criminals from County Londonderry Living people Place of birth missing (living people) People from Northern Ireland convicted of murder People from Northern Ireland convicted of war crimes People convicted of murder by Northern Ireland Prisoners from Northern Ireland sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Northern Ireland Ulster Defence Association members Ulster loyalists imprisoned on terrorism charges