The Billy Boy The Life and Death of LVF Leader Billy Wright

by Anderson, Chris; Coogan, Tim Pat

• ISBN13: 9781840187588
• ISBN10: 1840187581
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-02-01
• Publisher: Mainstream Publishing

Summary

A cult figure among loyalists, despised and feared by nationalists, Billy "King Rat" Wright is reputed to have been involved in a number of sectarian murders before he himself was shot dead by republican gunmen inside the Maze Prison in 1997. Wright became involved with loyalist paramilitaries at the age of 16, and in the early 1990s he emerged as the UVF commander in the Mid-Ulster area.The Billy Boydocuments Wright's role in the Drumcree dispute of 1995-96 and his split from the UVF, recounting how he ignored both a death threat and an order to leave Northern Ireland, only to remain in Portadown and form the Loyalist Volunteer Force. It covers Wright's trial and subsequent imprisonment for a crime it has been claimed was set up by the State; recounts the circumstances of his killing inside a top-security prison; and investigates the allegations of State collusion in Wright's death. Terrifically gripping and often disturbing,The Billy Boyis an exhaustive account of a notorious figure whose life and death were surrounded by controversy and political debate.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	7	(4)
Foreword by Tim Pat Coogan	11	(4)
Introduction	15	(100)
1. The Loyalist Evolves	21	(12)
2. The Mid-Ulster Brigade	33	(12)
3. Defiance and Drumcree	45	(12)
4. Expulsion and Imprisonment	57	(10)
5. The Aftermath of Murder	67	(8)
6. Murder in the Maze	75	(10)
7. The Starry Plough	85	(8)
8. A Gunman Speaks	93	(10)
9. The Questions Begin	103	(12)
10. Contradiction and Conspiracy	115	(12)
11. 'Stand Down the Guard!'	127	(12)
12. The Official Stonewall	139	(10)
13. Establishing the Facts	149	(10)
14. Investigation or Whitewash?	159	(10)
15. The Inquest	169	(8)
16. The Questions Remain Unanswered	177	(10)
17. The Fight for the Truth	187	(8)
18. Person or Persons Unknown	195	(8)
19. Injustice and Prejudice	203	(5)
Appendix	208	(1)
Postscript	209