Jim Spence (loyalist)
| Jim Spence | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | James Spence |
| Born | Circa 1960 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Allegiance | Ulster Defence Association (UDA) |
| Rank | Brigadier |
| Unit | B Company, West Belfast Brigade |
| Conflict | The Troubles |
Jim Spence (born c. 1960) is a Northern Irish former loyalist activist. Spence became notorious for his time in the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), serving two spells in charge of the West Belfast Brigade. Spence is a native of the Woodvale area of Belfast's Shankill Road.
Spence was commander of 'B' Company of the UDA's West Belfast Brigade, which covered the Woodvale area at the top of the Shankill Road, during the 1980s and 1990s. In this role Spence was closely involved with British agent Brian Nelson. On 22 September 1988, Gerard Slane was shot dead at his Falls Road home after members of the UDA broke down his front door and shot him four times in the head. An article that appeared in the UDA's Ulster magazine claimed that Slane was a member of the Irish People's Liberation Organisation (IPLO) and had driven the getaway car when UDA member Billy Quee was killed by that group, although the IPLO did not claim Slane as a member following his killing.
In 1992, Nelson issued a statement in which he placed the blame on Spence for the killing. According to Nelson, he had obtained a photograph of Slane and had shown it to eyewitnesses who identified Slane as the driver at Quee's killing. Nelson claimed that he then gave the picture to Spence who told Nelson that "I'll soon deal with him" and dispatched a murder squad after first sending a reconnaissance team to find Slane's house.Johnny Adair would later frequently recount the details of how he had been one of the two gunmen to kill Slane, although in truth this had not been the case. The actual killers have not been identified but they were picked by Spence from within the ranks of B Company whilst Adair had always been a member of the Lower Shankill's C Company. The Attorney General for Northern Ireland ordered that the murder case be reopened in June 2011 in order to investigate the collusion allegations.
Spence was also named as having been involved in the murder of solicitor Pat Finucane in February 1989. According to Ken Barrett, who killed Finucane, it had been Spence who had initially suggested to him that Finucane should be killed. Spence introduced Barrett to an officer from Special Branch with whom the B Company commander had been in regular contact and it was from this man that Barrett received the information that Finucane was organising the IRA's finances. In Michael Stones's book "None Shall Divide Us" he claims that Pat Finucane was killed because he overheard a conversation in The Maze prison between Stone and Special Branch in which Stone stated that if he was given more than 30 years for the Milltown attack then he would say that he colluded with the RUC in the operation and that the white van containing RUC officers watching the cemetery was actually his get away vehicle.
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