Christopher "Crip" McWilliams

Christopher McWilliams
Christopher "Crip" McWilliams in 2000
Born	15 December 1963 Belfast, Northern Ireland
Died	28 June 2008(2008-06-28) (aged 44) Newry, County Down
Cause of death	Cancer
Nationality	Irish
Other names	Crip
Known for	Irish People's Liberation Organisation (IPLO) member Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) member Assassin of loyalist leader Billy Wright

Christopher "Crip" McWilliams (15 December 1963 – 28 June 2008) was a member of both the Irish People's Liberation Organisation (IPLO) and the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. He was convicted of the murder of Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) leader Billy Wright, who was shot by an INLA unit led by McWilliams inside the Maze Prison.

McWilliams was born on 15 December 1963 and grew up in staunchly republican west Belfast. His 16-year-old brother Paul, a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) youth section (Na Fianna), was shot dead by British Army soldiers in 1977 as he allegedly threw petrol bombs at their observation post during rioting in Ballymurphy. The following week McWilliams placed a death notice in the Irish News regarding his brother's death: "He was shot in the back by a coward and died a hero".

In 1984, McWilliams was jailed for fourteen years for his part in a shoot-out in a flat in the Lenadoon area of west Belfast in which a leading INLA figure, Paul McCann, and a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) policeman died, but did not serve the full sentence. Seven years later, while still a member of the IPLO, McWilliams was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Colm Mahon, a bar manager, on 15 December 1991, when Mahon asked McWilliams and his friends to leave the Frames Snooker Hall on Little Donegall Street, Belfast, on McWilliams' birthday. McWilliams later claimed that he did not carry out the killing and stated that he would name an alleged IPLO gunman who actually shot Mahon.