Frankie Curry

Frankie Curry
Born	c. 1955 Belfast, Northern Ireland
Died	17 March 1999 (aged 43–44) Belfast, Northern Ireland
Cause of death	Multiple gunshot wounds to the head
Resting place	Roselawn Cemetery, Belfast
Residence	Shankill Road, Belfast
Citizenship	British
Years active	1972–1999
Organization	Red Hand Commando Red Hand Defenders
Known for	Ulster loyalist
Relatives	Gusty Spence, Billy Spence (uncles)

Frankie Curry (c.1955 – 17 March 1999) nicknamed "Pigface", was an Ulster loyalist who was involved with a number of paramilitary groups during his long career. A critic of the Northern Ireland peace process, Curry was killed during a loyalist feud.

A native of Belfast's Shankill Road and a nephew of Gusty Spence, Curry became involved in the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) at an early age, claiming that he had helped conceal guns in the aftermath of the June 1966 murder of Catholic civilian Peter Ward by Spence, Robert Williamson and Hugh McClean in the Malvern Arms bar on the Shankill.

Curry's reputation within the UVF soon grew and in 1972 at the age of 17, he was a central figure in the plot to break his uncle Gusty Spence out of the Maze Prison. Curry was driving Spence back to prison after a period of leave when their car was stopped by a UVF patrol and Spence was "abducted". In fact both Curry and Spence were closely involved in planning and executing the supposed kidnapping. Curry knew in advance the Springmartin Road location on which the event was to take place and had been told specially by the UVF leadership to drive Spence that day.

Curry operated as part of the UVF's Red Hand Commando (RHC) and was said to have been responsible for at least twelve of the killings claimed by the RHC. Curry himself would claim to have been involved in at least 16 deaths, claiming 19 in another interview, and had even described himself as a serial killer. He stated that he had killed Bernard Rice, Patrick McCrory and Sean McConville in 1972 before killing Michael Coleman, Joseph McAleese, John McCormick and Thomas Holmes Curry the following year. All seven men were Catholic civilians.

During his time as a paramilitary Curry served a number of spells in prison. In 1973 he was given four years for intimidation and handling stolen goods and the following year was given twelve years for attempting to murder four youths on the Antrim Road. During his trial Curry identified himself as a member of the Red Hand Commando and refused to recognise the court. Sometime before 1982 Curry switched to membership of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and in 1982 he was returned to prison after being found transporting 101 bullets in his car for that organisation. He was jailed again in 1985 for possessing a gun and 900 rounds of ammunition. In 1986 he went on hunger strike over conditions, shedding two stone in weight and being hospitalised before ending his protest. During this spell he had an extra year added to his sentence after taking part in a prison protest that caused £1 million of damage to Crumlin Road gaol. Soon after this Curry fell out with the UDA and left the group, returning to the RHC. He would return to prison in 1995 for a nine-month sentence on charges of impersonating a police officer as part of a failed plan to hijack a lorry.

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