Ned McCreery

Edward "Ned" McCreery (c. 1945 – 15 April 1992) was a Northern Irish loyalist. A leading member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), he was notorious for the use of torture in his killings. He was leader of the UDA East Belfast Brigade for several years at a time when the brigade was at its most active. He later fell out of favour with other high-ranking UDA figures and was killed by unidentified members of the organisation.

McCreery came from a well-known east Belfast family that produced a number of leading loyalists as well as footballers, including his cousin David McCreery.

McCreery was a founder-member of the UDA in 1971. Holding the rank of colonel in the UDA, McCreery sat on the group's Inner Council in the early 1970s. According to Henry McDonald and Jim Cusack, McCreery was responsible for the murders of at least six Catholic civilians in 1972 and also launched a grenade attack on a busload of Catholic workers. His gang became notorious, along with the groups led by John White and Davy Payne, for pioneering the use of torture in their murders, something that was new to Northern Ireland at the time. In this role McCreery co-operated closely with Albert "Ginger" Baker, a Belfast-born British soldier and UDA volunteer.

McCreery's name was also mentioned in connection with the killing of Tommy Herron in 1973. According to one theory the two had a long-running dispute over money that ended when McCreery used a woman to lure Herron into a deadly ambush. The theory remains unproven and is one of a number of competing ideas, as Herron's death remains unsolved. Following the introduction of internment in 1973, McCreery was one of the first UDA members to be taken into custody.

In 1973, Albert Baker decided to leave the organisation after becoming disillusioned with killing. Baker turned himself into the Royal Ulster Constabulary and agreed to testify against a number of UDA leaders, including McCreery. Baker's evidence saw McCreery and six others brought to trial for the torture and murder of James McCartan on 3 October 1972. However, Baker's evidence proved incoherent and was tailored in an attempt to minimise his own involvement, resulting in the judge dismissing the case and McCreery going free. McCartan had been kidnapped from the lobby of the Park Avenue Hotel, Holywood Road and tortured at two separate Newtownards Road UDA clubs (on Finmore Street and Clermont Lane) before being shot dead. According to the evidence presented, McCreery had directed the torture but had left the shooting to Baker, preferring to remain behind and drink at the Clermont Lane club.

...
Wikipedia