The ex-chief of a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland has reportedly died in a fall. Sam ‘Skelly’ McCrory, a former leader of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), passed away in Scotland over the weekend.
The 57-year-old is said to have accidentally fallen on concrete steps and suffered a catastrophic head injury as a result.
According to Belfast Live, tributes to McCrory - the first loyalist paramilitary to come out as gay - emerged on social media from loyalist circles on Sunday night amid rumours that he had been the victim of violence. However, that speculation was roundly rejected by those closest to him and his family.
Tracey Coulter wrote to McCrory’s 5,000 Facebook friends, urging the spreading of rumours about his sudden demise to stop.
She said: “People really need think before they speak. Yes Samuel Skelly McCrory has passed away [but] through a fall down concrete steps. Not murder or the rest of the stories that people [are] chin wagging.
"God bless you Skelly. You were loved and will be missed sorely. Thinking of your best friend Johnny and all your entire family and all who knew you and loved you dearly.”
Another former “UFF 2nd Battallion” pal wrote: “So sorry to hear about a true gentleman Skelly. You were a true loyalist [who] took the fight to provos. Real soldier mate. We had some cracking times in the Maze you’ll be surely missed, I can’t believe it.”
In his youth, McCrory had formed a racist skinhead gang along with future UDA brigadiers Johnny ‘Mad Dog’ Adair and 'Fat' Jackie Thompson. In 1987 aged 23, McCrory was linked to the murder of Francisco Notarantonio who was shot dead by the UDA in October 1987.
In July 1992, McCrory, Thompson and two others targeted IRA leaders Brian Gillen and Martin Lynch, the assassination attempt stopped in its tracks by a security operation between the RUC and the army.
Six years later, in 1998 while serving time for the failed murder plot on Gillen and Lynch, and with the peace process bubbling under the surface, McCrory was one of two UDA leaders chosen to meet the then Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam at the Maze. The talks were held in a bid to salvage delicate peace talks.
He was "UDA 1 OC", or officer in command, at the Maze Prison and also became the first loyalist paramilitary to publicly identify himself as gay, becoming an advocate for gay rights and openly attending Gay Pride parades in Scotland and London.
In early 2003 he was linked to the murder of South East Antrim UDA boss John ‘Grug’ Gregg, and fled his native Shankill to Scotland following a bloody and violent loyalist feud.
McCrory was filmed back in Belfast being interviewed by actor Danny Dyer as part of his ‘Deadliest Men’ TV series, visiting his former West Belfast neighbourhood where he had built a formidable reputation.
In his late 40s he was exiled in Ayr and spent much of his time in the company of Adair, both men living in relative safety of Scotland but both still taking precautions over their personal security. It was McCrory Adair turned to for support following the death of his son Jonathan in 2016.
However July 2015, he was the subject of an assassination attempt. Four men were arrested in Glasgow and charged with plotting to kill both former Shankill men and three, Martin Hughes, Paul Sands and Antoin Duff, were convicted and sentenced to a total of almost 40 years.
McCrory was attended to by an ambulance crew after suffering severe head injuries at the weekend, and Police Scotland, who were also at the scene near his flat in Ayr, are investigating the circumstances around his death.
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