Jim Gray (UDA member)
| Jim Gray | |
|---|---|
 Jim "Doris Day" Gray |
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| Birth name | James Gray |
| Nickname | Doris Day |
| Born | 1958 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Died | 4 October 2005 Clarawood, Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Allegiance | Ulster Defence Association (UDA) |
| Rank | Brigadier |
| Unit | East Belfast Brigade |
| Conflict | The Troubles |
James "Jim" Gray, (1958 - 4 October 2005), was the East Belfast brigadier of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) in Northern Ireland, a loyalist paramilitary group. He was often nicknamed "Doris Day" for his flamboyant dress sense and dyed blond hair. Another media nickname for Gray was the "Brigadier of Bling". He was also the owner of several bars in east Belfast.[1]
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[edit] Ulster Defence Association
Gray was born in Belfast and raised in a Protestant family on a staunch loyalist working class estate in east Belfast. He left school at 15 and had ambitions of becoming a professional golfer, but instead joined the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association (UDA) when he was still in his teens. He eventually rose to become brigadier of the East Belfast Brigade, having taken over from the volatile Ned McCreery when he was killed by the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) in 1992.
Nicknamed "Doris Day" and the "Brigadier of Bling", Gray, who was 6'3 in height, became known as the most flamboyant leader in the UDA with his dyed blond bouffant hair, permanent suntan, gold earring, ostentatious jewellery, and expensive pastel clothing. In their book UDA - Inside the Heart of Loyalist Terror, journalists Henry McDonald and Jim Cusack described him as "looking more like an aging New Romantic" than the leader of a paramilitary organisation. He once attended a UDA meeting with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, John Reid wearing a loud Hawaiian-print shirt with a pink jumper draped over his shoulders.[2] A heavy user of cocaine, Gray made large amounts of money from selling drugs, protection racketeering, and extortion.[1] He also acquired several bars in his native east Belfast. One of these, the "Avenue One" in Templemore Avenue, he used as the headquarters for his substantial criminal empire.[3] He lived in an expensive luxury flat in an exclusive private residence and was protected by a devoted gang dubbed "the Spice Boys".[3]
Renowned for his violent temper, he once allegedly brutally beat then stomped on a man's head during an outdoor Rod Stewart concert at Stormont in full view of the audience.[3] On another occasion, he violently attacked a man with a golf club after the latter had beaten him in a game of golf. For that assault, Gray was barred from the Ormeau Golf Club.[3]He had allegedly ordered the killing of his predecessor McCreery, whom he accused of being a police informer. Gray then took over his brigade and one of his pubs.[3] In January 2001, the gunman, Geordie Legge met a grisly end, allegedly at the hands of Gray and his henchmen. Legge had reportedly denounced Gray's organised criminal racket and tried to interfere with Gray's lucrative drug-dealing, and he was repeatedly tortured and stabbed to death inside "The Bunch of Grapes", another of Gray's east Belfast pubs.[3][4] After the killing, Legge's body was placed in a carpet and dumped outside Belfast. Legge's knife wounds were so severe that his head was almost severed from the body. The pub was set on fire to eliminate the signs of the torture that had been carried out inside. Gray was one of the mourners who attended Legge's funeral.[3] The following year 2002, Gray was shot in the face by UDA rivals; the plastic surgery to repair the considerable facial injuries cost £11,000.[3] The shooting, which was blamed on West Belfast Brigadier Johnny Adair,[3] had been described by the police as "loosely related" to the death of Stephen Warnock, a Loyalist Volunteer Force leader, in one of the loyalist feuds.[5] Two weeks after the attack, Gray flew to Tenerife for a holiday. He allegedly owned property in Spain.
[edit] Expulsion and arrest
Gray was expelled by the UDA leadership in March 2005, for "treason" and "building a criminal empire outside the UDA", according to the South Belfast brigadier, Jackie McDonald.[3] It was suggested that Gray was a Special Branch informer who passed on information to the police about his friends and associates.[3] In April that year, he was arrested whilst driving; several thousand pounds were found in the car, and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) believed he was intending to travel to the Republic of Ireland with what they suspected to be the proceeds of drug dealing and extortion. Gray was charged with money laundering, and held in custody until September when he was released on bail. During this time, police raids on a number of locations brought in thousands of documents related to this investigation. At the same time the prominent Belfast estate agent Philip Johnston was also arrested under suspicion of money laundering. On 5 September 2006 the Public Prosecution Service dropped all charges against Johnston, without stating a reason. Johnston stated that he had been financially ruined, and that "My name will never be restored". His business was the subject of a management buyout shortly after his initial arrest.[6]
[edit] Shooting death
Gray was shot five times in the back and killed outside his father's house in east Belfast's loyalist Clarawood estate on 4 October 2005, by two unknown gunmen. The shooting took place at 20.00 while he was unloading weight-lifting equipment from the boot of his silver Mini Cooper. As his body lay on the front lawn, delighted locals took photos and cheerfully regaled the news to others via their mobile phones.[3] The involvement of other loyalist factions was suspected, fuelling speculation that he was murdered through fears of him making an agreement with the police to expose his former associates in the UDA. Gray's only son, Jonathan, died of a drugs overdose in 2002 while with his father on holiday in Thailand. An October 2005 report by the Belfast Telegraph claimed that Gray was bisexual and would regularly take vacations to Thailand to have sex with teenage boys.[7]
East Belfast MP Peter Robinson (to date the incumbent First Minister of Northern Ireland) stated after his killing that "there was no excuse for the murder".[5] Fellow UDA member and former friend, Michael Stone claimed that Gray had told him he was a businessman rather than a loyalist, as loyalism did not pay the bills.[8]
Unlike most brigadiers, he was not given an extravagant paramilitary funeral, complete with volleys of gunfire fired over the coffin; instead it was a private affair, attended by a small group of just 14 mourners. As a further sign of his unpopularity amongst loyalists, a street disco was held in east Belfast to celebrate his death. Gray's effigy, with a curtain ring representing his trademark single gold earring, was thrown upon a bonfire. In lieu of murals dedicated to his memory, there is only graffiti scrawled on an east Belfast wall which reads: "Jim Gray RIP - Rest in Pink".[3]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Independent
- ^ "Violent 'brigadier of bling' favoured loud shirts and cocaine but talked peace for the UDA". The Guardian. Anne McHardy. 6 October 2005
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "The death of Doris Day". The Guardian. Angelique Chrisafis. 12 October 2005. Retrieved 17 June 2011
- ^ McDonald, Henry & Cusack, Jim (2004). UDA - Inside the Heart of Loyalist Terror. Dublin: Penguin Ireland. p.367
- ^ a b Top loyalist murdered on doorstep BBC News
- ^ BBC News
- ^ Belfast Telegraph
- ^ "Gray was a tout, says killer Stone". Belfast Telegraph. Jonathan McCambridge. 6 October 2005
[edit] External links
| Other offices | ||
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| Preceded by Ned McCreery |
Ulster Defence Association East Belfast Brigadier 1992–2005 |
Succeeded by ? |
