Lenny Murphy

Lenny Murphy
Lenny Murphy in 1982
Born	Hugh Leonard Thompson Murphy 2 March 1952 Shankill Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Died	16 November 1982 (aged 30) Forthriver Road, Glencairn, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Cause of death	multiple gunshot wounds
Nationality	Northern Irish
Other names	Lenny Murphy
Known for	Leader of Shankill Butchers Ulster Volunteer Force member

Hugh Leonard Thompson Murphy, best known as Lenny Murphy (2 March 1952 – 16 November 1982), was an Ulster loyalist from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Murphy was a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and leader of the infamous Shankill Butchers gang which became notorious for its torture and murder of Roman Catholic men. Although never tried for murder, Murphy is thought to have been responsible for many deaths. He spent long periods in custody from late 1972 to July 1982, being free for a total of only thirteen months during that time. He was shot dead by the Provisional IRA in November 1982.

A Protestant, Murphy had a fanatical hatred of Roman Catholics. In his book The Shankill Butchers, Belfast journalist Martin Dillon suggests that Murphy's visceral loathing of Catholics may have stemmed from his traditionally Irish surname, which is more often associated with the other side of the religious divide in Northern Ireland. After his death, his mother commented: "I don't honestly believe he was a bad man"; however, an unnamed loyalist from the rival Ulster Defence Association described Murphy as a "typical psychopath".

Murphy was the youngest of three sons of William and Joyce Murphy from the loyalist Shankill Road, Belfast. His elder brothers were William Jr. and John. William Sr. was originally from Fleet Street, Sailortown in the Belfast docks area. This was where he had met Joyce Thompson, who came from the Shankill. Like his own father (also named William), William Sr. worked as a dock labourer.

The Murphy family changed their residence several times; in 1957 they returned to Joyce's family home in the lower Shankill, at 28 Percy Street. Murphy did not use his given first name ("Hugh") which was perceived as Catholic-sounding, especially when coupled with the surname Murphy. Prior to the erection of a peace wall in the 1970s, Percy Street ran from the lower Shankill area to the Falls Road. At Argyle Primary School, he was known for the use of a knife and had his elder brothers to back him up; he logged his first conviction at the age of twelve for theft. After leaving the Belfast Boys' Model School at sixteen, he joined the Ulster Volunteer Force and was involved in the rioting that broke out in Belfast in August 1969.