Wesley Somerville
Encyclopedia
Wesley Somerville was a Northern Irish loyalist
, who held the rank of lieutenant in the Ulster Volunteer Force
's (UVF) Mid-Ulster Brigade
during the period of religious-political conflict known as "The Troubles
". He also served as a member of the Ulster Defence Regiment
(UDR). Somerville was part of the UVF unit that ambushed the Irish cabaret band The Miami Showband
at Buskhill, County Down
, which resulted in the deaths of three of the bandmembers
. Somerville was killed, along with Harris Boyle
, when the bomb they had loaded onto the band's minibus exploded prematurely. His brother, John James Somerville, a former UDR soldier was one of the three men convicted of the murders of bandmembers Brian McCoy, Fran O'Toole and Tony Geraghty.
He was allegedly a part of the UVF team that exploded a car bomb
in Monaghan
on 17 May 1974
which killed seven people.
, County Tyrone
to a Protestant family. At some stage he moved to Dungannon
where he henceforth made his home. He was a textile worker by trade but also a member of the Ulster Defence Regiment
(UDR), which was a locally-recruited infantry regiment of the British Army
in Northern Ireland
. On an unrecorded date he joined the illegal loyalist paramilitary organisation, the Ulster Volunteer Force
(UVF); he was a member of the Portadown
unit of the UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade
. This brigade had been founded in 1972 by Billy Hanna
, who appointed himself its first commander. Somerville was a close friend of senior UVF volunteer Robin Jackson
, who assumed command of the Mid-Ulster Brigade upon the shooting death of Hanna. Jackson was alleged by investigative journalists Joe Tiernan and Paul Larkin of having been the man who had shot Hanna outside his home in Lurgan
on 27 July 1975. Somerville was photographed alongside Jackson at Hanna's funeral.
Somerville was a key player in the "Glenanne gang
" a loose alliance of loyalist extremists comprising the Mid-Ulster UVF and allegedly rogue members of the security forces. This group mainly operated in the County Armagh and mid-Ulster areas. The Pat Finucane Centre
in collaboration with an international panel of inquiry headed by Professor Douglass Cassel (formerly of the Northwestern University School of Law
) has linked the "Glenanne gang" to 87 sectarian killings directed against the Catholic nationalist and republican community. According to Martin Dillon
Somerville's name was included on a Special Branch
list of terrorism suspects but despite this no effort was made to remove him from the UDR.
on 28 October 1973. Although Campbell's widow picked Jackson out as the killer at an identity parade, murder charges were dropped against him at the Belfast
Magistrates' Court
on 4 January 1974.
Former Royal Ulster Constabulary
(RUC) Special Patrol Group
officer John Weir
stated in his affidavit that Somerville was part of the UVF team that exploded a no-warning car bomb
in Monaghan
on 17 May 1974. The blast killed a total of seven people. Ninety minutes before, units from the UVF's Belfast and Mid-Ulster brigades had detonated three car bombs in Dublin's crowded city centre during rush hour; Billy Hanna and Robin Jackson had allegedly led one of the bomb teams. A total of 26 people died in the three attacks. Weir's sworn affidavit was published in the 2003 Barron Report
which was the findings of an official investigation commissioned by Irish Supreme Court Justice Henry Barron into the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings
. Weir claimed that Stewart Young, allegedly the leader of the Monaghan bombing team, had told him that Somerville and his brother John James had assisted in the attack. Somerville's Special Branch file also included the claim that he had been involved in another bombing, a largely failed attack on a Catholic housing estate in Coalisland
in 1974.
. In the early hours of 31 July 1975, UVF gunmen wearing British Army
uniforms had set up a bogus military vehicle checkpoint on the main A1 road
at the townland of Buskhill, seven miles north of Newry
, County Down. According to journalist Martin Dillon, at least five of the gunmen were serving members of the UDR. The band was driving back to Dublin after a performance at the Castle Ballroom in Banbridge
when its minibus (driven by trumpeter Brian McCoy) was flagged-down by the armed men, who ordered the bandmembers to get out and line up beside a ditch facing a field. While a gunman took down their names and addresses, Somerville and Harris Boyle
placed a ten pound time bomb
in the rear of the minibus. Martin Dillon suggested in his book, The Dirty War, that this was meant to explode across the border in the Republic of Ireland with the aim of portraying the band as Republican sympathisers smuggling bombs for the Provisional IRA
. As the rear door was closed, clumsy soldering on the clock used a timer caused the device to detonate prematurely, blowing the minibus apart and instantly killing Somerville and Boyle, who were hurled in opposite directions. Having taken the full force of the blast, both men's heads were blown to pieces and their limbs torn off. Burnt beyond recognition, one torso was completely charred. What little that remained of Somerville was later found in a field one hundred yards away from the scene; the only identifiable body part was his severed arm bearing the tattoo "Portadown UVF".
Following the explosion, the remaining UVF gunmen opened fire on the five bandmembers, who had been blown down into the field below the road's level. Three were shot dead: trumpeter Brian McCoy, lead singer Fran O'Toole and guitarist Tony Geraghty. Bassist Stephen Travers survived, but was gravely wounded by a dum dum bullet, and saxophone player Des McAlea had received only slight injuries therefore he was able to alert the RUC in Newry about the attack.
minister William McCrea
, a Democratic Unionist Party
(DUP) politician, officiated at the services. The popularity of the Miami Showband across the religious divide and the revulsion at the nature of their murders had initially raised questions about whether Somerville and Boyle should receive the full paramilitary treatment but ultimately they did and both funerals attracted crowds of around 3,000 mourners and supporters.
James McDowell, Thomas Crozier, and John James Somerville (brother of Wesley) were convicted of the murders and sentenced to life imprisonment inside the Maze Prison. McDowell and Crozier were serving UDR soldiers at the time of the murders and John James Somerville was a former UDR member. The international panel of inquiry commissioned by the Pat Finucane Centre concluded that the principal perpetrator of the Miami Showband attack had been Robin Jackson. Although Jackson had been taken in and questioned by the RUC following the attack, he was released without having been charged. Loyalist Volunteer Force
leader Billy Wright
, who had succeeded Jackson as Mid-Ulster brigadier in the early 1990s, claimed that Somerville and Boyle had served as his role models and that their violent deaths had inspired him to join the UVF at the age of 15.
On 30 July 2005, a mural and memorial plaque commemorating Somerville and Boyle was unveiled in the Killycomaine estate of Portadown, where the latter had grown up. One hundred people, 16 loyalist bands, and a UVF military guard of honour were present at the unveiling following a parade through the estate. The plaque reads that the two men were "killed in action".
Ulster loyalism
Ulster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
, who held the rank of lieutenant in the Ulster Volunteer Force
Ulster Volunteer Force
The Ulster Volunteer Force is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in late 1965 or early 1966 and named after the Ulster Volunteer Force of 1913. The group's volunteers undertook an armed campaign of almost thirty years during The Troubles...
's (UVF) Mid-Ulster Brigade
UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade
UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade formed part of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force in Northern Ireland. The brigade was established in Lurgan, County Armagh in 1972 by its first commander Billy Hanna. The unit operated mainly around the Lurgan and Portadown areas. Subsequent leaders of the...
during the period of religious-political conflict known as "The Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
". He also served as a member of the Ulster Defence Regiment
Ulster Defence Regiment
The Ulster Defence Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army which became operational in 1970, formed on similar lines to other British reserve forces but with the operational role of defence of life or property in Northern Ireland against armed attack or sabotage...
(UDR). Somerville was part of the UVF unit that ambushed the Irish cabaret band The Miami Showband
The Miami Showband
The Miami Showband were one of the most successful and popular showbands in Ireland in the 1960s and 1970s. Led at first by singer Dickie Rock, and later by Fran O'Toole, they had seven number one records on the Irish singles chart...
at Buskhill, County Down
County Down
-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...
, which resulted in the deaths of three of the bandmembers
Miami Showband killings
The Miami Showband killings was a paramilitary attack at Buskhill, County Down, Northern Ireland, in the early morning of 31 July 1975. It left five people dead at the hands of Ulster Volunteer Force gunmen, including three members of The Miami Showband...
. Somerville was killed, along with Harris Boyle
Harris Boyle
Harris Boyle was a Ulster Defence Regiment soldier and a high-ranking member of the Ulster Volunteer Force , a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary organisation. Boyle was implicated in the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings which left a total of 33 people dead...
, when the bomb they had loaded onto the band's minibus exploded prematurely. His brother, John James Somerville, a former UDR soldier was one of the three men convicted of the murders of bandmembers Brian McCoy, Fran O'Toole and Tony Geraghty.
He was allegedly a part of the UVF team that exploded a car bomb
Car bomb
A car bomb, or truck bomb also known as a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device , is an improvised explosive device placed in a car or other vehicle and then detonated. It is commonly used as a weapon of assassination, terrorism, or guerrilla warfare, to kill the occupants of the vehicle,...
in Monaghan
Monaghan
Monaghan is the county town of County Monaghan in Ireland. Its population at the 2006 census stood at 7,811 . The town is located on the main road, the N2 road, from Dublin north to both Derry and Letterkenny.-Toponym:...
on 17 May 1974
Dublin and Monaghan Bombings
The Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 17 May 1974 were a series of car bombings in Dublin and Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. The attacks killed 33 civilians and wounded almost 300 – the highest number of casualties in any single day during the conflict known as The Troubles.A loyalist...
which killed seven people.
Ulster Volunteer Force
Wesley Somerville was born in about 1941 in MoygashelMoygashel
Moygashel is a small village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is near the southern edge of Dungannon. Although the village's name is pronounced , the trademark of the Irish linen named after it is pronounced .- History :Moygashel is a mill town and mills have been in operation...
, County Tyrone
County Tyrone
Historically Tyrone stretched as far north as Lough Foyle, and comprised part of modern day County Londonderry east of the River Foyle. The majority of County Londonderry was carved out of Tyrone between 1610-1620 when that land went to the Guilds of London to set up profit making schemes based on...
to a Protestant family. At some stage he moved to Dungannon
Dungannon
Dungannon is a medium-sized town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the third-largest town in the county and a population of 11,139 people was recorded in the 2001 Census. In August 2006, Dungannon won Ulster In Bloom's Best Kept Town Award for the fifth time...
where he henceforth made his home. He was a textile worker by trade but also a member of the Ulster Defence Regiment
Ulster Defence Regiment
The Ulster Defence Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army which became operational in 1970, formed on similar lines to other British reserve forces but with the operational role of defence of life or property in Northern Ireland against armed attack or sabotage...
(UDR), which was a locally-recruited infantry regiment of the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. On an unrecorded date he joined the illegal loyalist paramilitary organisation, the Ulster Volunteer Force
Ulster Volunteer Force
The Ulster Volunteer Force is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in late 1965 or early 1966 and named after the Ulster Volunteer Force of 1913. The group's volunteers undertook an armed campaign of almost thirty years during The Troubles...
(UVF); he was a member of the Portadown
Portadown
Portadown is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about 23 miles south-west of Belfast...
unit of the UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade
UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade
UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade formed part of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force in Northern Ireland. The brigade was established in Lurgan, County Armagh in 1972 by its first commander Billy Hanna. The unit operated mainly around the Lurgan and Portadown areas. Subsequent leaders of the...
. This brigade had been founded in 1972 by Billy Hanna
Billy Hanna
William Henry Wilson "Billy" Hanna MM was a high-ranking Northern Irish loyalist who founded and led the Mid-Ulster Brigade of the Ulster Volunteer Force until he was killed, allegedly by Robin Jackson, who took over command of the brigade.According to RUC Special Patrol Group officer John Weir,...
, who appointed himself its first commander. Somerville was a close friend of senior UVF volunteer Robin Jackson
Robin Jackson
Robert John "Robin" Jackson, known as the Jackal was a Northern Irish loyalist who held the rank of brigadier in the Ulster Volunteer Force during the period of violent religious and political conflict in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles.From his home in the small village of Donaghcloney,...
, who assumed command of the Mid-Ulster Brigade upon the shooting death of Hanna. Jackson was alleged by investigative journalists Joe Tiernan and Paul Larkin of having been the man who had shot Hanna outside his home in Lurgan
Lurgan
Lurgan is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is near the southern shore of Lough Neagh and in the north-eastern corner of the county. Part of the Craigavon Borough Council area, Lurgan is about 18 miles south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway...
on 27 July 1975. Somerville was photographed alongside Jackson at Hanna's funeral.
Somerville was a key player in the "Glenanne gang
Glenanne gang
The Glenanne gang was a name given, since 2003, to a loose alliance of Northern Irish loyalist extremists who carried out sectarian killings and bomb attacks in the 1970s against the Irish Catholic and Irish nationalist community. Most of its attacks took place in the area of County Armagh and mid...
" a loose alliance of loyalist extremists comprising the Mid-Ulster UVF and allegedly rogue members of the security forces. This group mainly operated in the County Armagh and mid-Ulster areas. The Pat Finucane Centre
Pat Finucane Centre
The Pat Finucane Centre is a human rights advocacy and lobbying entity in Northern Ireland. Named in honour of murdered solicitor Pat Finucane, it operates advice centres in Derry and Newry, dealing mainly with complaints from nationalists and republicans...
in collaboration with an international panel of inquiry headed by Professor Douglass Cassel (formerly of the Northwestern University School of Law
Northwestern University School of Law
The Northwestern University School of Law is a private American law school in Chicago, Illinois. The law school was founded in 1859 as the Union College of Law of the Old University of Chicago. The first law school established in Chicago, it became jointly controlled by Northwestern University in...
) has linked the "Glenanne gang" to 87 sectarian killings directed against the Catholic nationalist and republican community. According to Martin Dillon
Martin Dillon
Martin Dillon is an author and journalist from Northern Ireland. He worked for eighteen years at the BBC and has written a number of plays and novels, but he is best known for his non-fiction books about the Troubles....
Somerville's name was included on a Special Branch
Special Branch
Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security in British and Commonwealth police forces, as well as in the Royal Thai Police...
list of terrorism suspects but despite this no effort was made to remove him from the UDR.
Alleged attacks
Together with his brother John James and another man, Somerville was charged with the kidnapping of two bread men. The kidnapping charge was connected with a bomb attack at Mourne Crescent in Dungannon. Raymond Murray alleged that he had accompanied Robin Jackson when the latter shot Catholic trade unionist Patrick Campbell to death on his doorstep in BanbridgeBanbridge
Banbridge is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Bann and the A1 road. It was named after a bridge built over the Bann in 1712. The town grew as a coaching stop on the road from Belfast to Dublin and thrived from Irish linen manufacturing...
on 28 October 1973. Although Campbell's widow picked Jackson out as the killer at an identity parade, murder charges were dropped against him at the Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
Magistrates' Court
Magistrates' Court
A magistrates' court or court of petty sessions, formerly known as a police court, is the lowest level of court in England and Wales and many other common law jurisdictions...
on 4 January 1974.
Former Royal Ulster Constabulary
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...
(RUC) Special Patrol Group
Special Patrol Group
The Special Patrol Group was a unit of Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service, responsible for providing a centrally-based mobile capability for combating serious public disorder and crime that could not be dealt with by local divisions....
officer John Weir
John Weir (loyalist)
John Oliver Weir , is an Ulster loyalist born in the Republic of Ireland. He served as an officer in Northern Ireland's Royal Ulster Constabulary's Special Patrol Group , and was a volunteer in the illegal Ulster Volunteer Force...
stated in his affidavit that Somerville was part of the UVF team that exploded a no-warning car bomb
Car bomb
A car bomb, or truck bomb also known as a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device , is an improvised explosive device placed in a car or other vehicle and then detonated. It is commonly used as a weapon of assassination, terrorism, or guerrilla warfare, to kill the occupants of the vehicle,...
in Monaghan
Monaghan
Monaghan is the county town of County Monaghan in Ireland. Its population at the 2006 census stood at 7,811 . The town is located on the main road, the N2 road, from Dublin north to both Derry and Letterkenny.-Toponym:...
on 17 May 1974. The blast killed a total of seven people. Ninety minutes before, units from the UVF's Belfast and Mid-Ulster brigades had detonated three car bombs in Dublin's crowded city centre during rush hour; Billy Hanna and Robin Jackson had allegedly led one of the bomb teams. A total of 26 people died in the three attacks. Weir's sworn affidavit was published in the 2003 Barron Report
which was the findings of an official investigation commissioned by Irish Supreme Court Justice Henry Barron into the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings
Dublin and Monaghan Bombings
The Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 17 May 1974 were a series of car bombings in Dublin and Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. The attacks killed 33 civilians and wounded almost 300 – the highest number of casualties in any single day during the conflict known as The Troubles.A loyalist...
. Weir claimed that Stewart Young, allegedly the leader of the Monaghan bombing team, had told him that Somerville and his brother John James had assisted in the attack. Somerville's Special Branch file also included the claim that he had been involved in another bombing, a largely failed attack on a Catholic housing estate in Coalisland
Coalisland
Coalisland is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, with a population of 4,917 people . As its name suggests, it was formerly a centre for coal mining.-History:...
in 1974.
Miami Showband attack
Somerville was a member of the Mid-Ulster UVF unit which carried out the ambush of the popular Dublin-based cabaret band, The Miami ShowbandThe Miami Showband
The Miami Showband were one of the most successful and popular showbands in Ireland in the 1960s and 1970s. Led at first by singer Dickie Rock, and later by Fran O'Toole, they had seven number one records on the Irish singles chart...
. In the early hours of 31 July 1975, UVF gunmen wearing British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
uniforms had set up a bogus military vehicle checkpoint on the main A1 road
A1 road (Northern Ireland)
The A1 is a major route in Northern Ireland. It runs from Belfast via Lisburn and Banbridge to the border with the Republic of Ireland south of Newry, from where the road continues to Dublin, becoming the N1 road and M1 motorway...
at the townland of Buskhill, seven miles north of Newry
Newry
Newry is a city in Northern Ireland. The River Clanrye, which runs through the city, formed the historic border between County Armagh and County Down. It is from Belfast and from Dublin. Newry had a population of 27,433 at the 2001 Census, while Newry and Mourne Council Area had a population...
, County Down. According to journalist Martin Dillon, at least five of the gunmen were serving members of the UDR. The band was driving back to Dublin after a performance at the Castle Ballroom in Banbridge
Banbridge
Banbridge is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Bann and the A1 road. It was named after a bridge built over the Bann in 1712. The town grew as a coaching stop on the road from Belfast to Dublin and thrived from Irish linen manufacturing...
when its minibus (driven by trumpeter Brian McCoy) was flagged-down by the armed men, who ordered the bandmembers to get out and line up beside a ditch facing a field. While a gunman took down their names and addresses, Somerville and Harris Boyle
Harris Boyle
Harris Boyle was a Ulster Defence Regiment soldier and a high-ranking member of the Ulster Volunteer Force , a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary organisation. Boyle was implicated in the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings which left a total of 33 people dead...
placed a ten pound time bomb
Time bomb
A time bomb is a bomb whose detonation is triggered by a timer. The use time bombs has been for various purposes ranging from insurance fraud to warfare to assassination; however, the most common use has been for politically-motivated terrorism.-Construction:The explosive charge is the main...
in the rear of the minibus. Martin Dillon suggested in his book, The Dirty War, that this was meant to explode across the border in the Republic of Ireland with the aim of portraying the band as Republican sympathisers smuggling bombs for the Provisional IRA
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
. As the rear door was closed, clumsy soldering on the clock used a timer caused the device to detonate prematurely, blowing the minibus apart and instantly killing Somerville and Boyle, who were hurled in opposite directions. Having taken the full force of the blast, both men's heads were blown to pieces and their limbs torn off. Burnt beyond recognition, one torso was completely charred. What little that remained of Somerville was later found in a field one hundred yards away from the scene; the only identifiable body part was his severed arm bearing the tattoo "Portadown UVF".
Following the explosion, the remaining UVF gunmen opened fire on the five bandmembers, who had been blown down into the field below the road's level. Three were shot dead: trumpeter Brian McCoy, lead singer Fran O'Toole and guitarist Tony Geraghty. Bassist Stephen Travers survived, but was gravely wounded by a dum dum bullet, and saxophone player Des McAlea had received only slight injuries therefore he was able to alert the RUC in Newry about the attack.
Aftermath
Tweve hours after the attack UVF leadership issued a statement identifying the dead men and justifying the killings. Both Somerville and Boyle were given UVF paramilitary funerals with gun volleys; eight women dressed in black preceded the cortége. Free PresbyterianFree Presbyterian Church of Ulster
The Free Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian denomination founded by the Rev. Ian Paisley in 1951. Most of its members live in Northern Ireland...
minister William McCrea
William McCrea (politician)
Robert Thomas William McCrea is a politician from Northern Ireland, and a member of the Democratic Unionist Party.-Career:...
, a Democratic Unionist Party
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...
(DUP) politician, officiated at the services. The popularity of the Miami Showband across the religious divide and the revulsion at the nature of their murders had initially raised questions about whether Somerville and Boyle should receive the full paramilitary treatment but ultimately they did and both funerals attracted crowds of around 3,000 mourners and supporters.
James McDowell, Thomas Crozier, and John James Somerville (brother of Wesley) were convicted of the murders and sentenced to life imprisonment inside the Maze Prison. McDowell and Crozier were serving UDR soldiers at the time of the murders and John James Somerville was a former UDR member. The international panel of inquiry commissioned by the Pat Finucane Centre concluded that the principal perpetrator of the Miami Showband attack had been Robin Jackson. Although Jackson had been taken in and questioned by the RUC following the attack, he was released without having been charged. Loyalist Volunteer Force
Loyalist Volunteer Force
The Loyalist Volunteer Force is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed by Billy Wright in 1996 when he and the Portadown unit of the Ulster Volunteer Force's Mid-Ulster Brigade was stood down by the UVF leadership. He had been the commander of the Mid-Ulster Brigade. The...
leader Billy Wright
Billy Wright (loyalist)
William Stephen "Billy" Wright was a prominent Ulster loyalist during the period of violent religious/political conflict known as "The Troubles". He joined the Ulster Volunteer Force in 1975 and became commander of its Mid-Ulster Brigade in the early 1990s...
, who had succeeded Jackson as Mid-Ulster brigadier in the early 1990s, claimed that Somerville and Boyle had served as his role models and that their violent deaths had inspired him to join the UVF at the age of 15.
On 30 July 2005, a mural and memorial plaque commemorating Somerville and Boyle was unveiled in the Killycomaine estate of Portadown, where the latter had grown up. One hundred people, 16 loyalist bands, and a UVF military guard of honour were present at the unveiling following a parade through the estate. The plaque reads that the two men were "killed in action".