Stephen McKeag
Stevie McKeag | |
---|---|
Birth name | Stevie McKeag |
Nickname(s) | Top Gun[1] |
Born | 1 April 1970 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
Died | 24 September 2000 Belfast | (aged 30)
Buried | Roselawn Cemetery, Belfast |
Allegiance | Ulster Defence Association |
Rank | Commander |
Unit | C-Company, West Belfast Brigade |
Conflict | The Troubles |
Stephen McKeag (1 April 1970 – 24 September 2000), nicknamed Top Gun, was a Northern Irish
Early years
As a youth, McKeag's first group affiliation was with the
Killings
McKeag became involved in 'C' Company of the lower Shankill – the most active unit of the UDA – around 1989, heading his own section of the company which was a hit squad (other sections concentrating on drug-dealing, money laundering and similar activities).[3] According to Henry McDonald and Jim Cusack, the UDA gave an annual "Volunteer of the Year" award to the organisation's top hitman. The award, presented on the Shankill Road and usually consisting of a trophy in the form of a model gun and plaque made by loyalists prisoners, was dominated by McKeag from 1990 onwards and helped to ensure that he became known as "Top Gun" both to his UDA comrades and his republican opponents.[6] In all, the RUC estimated that McKeag was responsible for at least 12 killings of mostly innocent Catholic civilians, although the figure was placed higher by a number of his former paramilitary associates.[6]
One of McKeag's earliest attacks occurred on 11 March 1990 when he shot and killed Eamon Quinn outside his Kashmir Road home in the Clonard district of the
Following his killing of Catholic shop worker Philomena Hanna at a chemists near the Springfield Road on 28 April 1992, eyewitnesses reported that as McKeag and his driver sped back to the Shankill via Lanark Way they shouted and sang his favourite song, 'Follow the Yellow Brick Road' from
As well as civilian Catholics, McKeag was also involved on attacks upon republicans. On 24 March 1993, Peter Gallagher, a 44 year old Sinn Féin member from Toomebridge, County Antrim was killed by McKeag when he arrived at his work at the Westlink Enterprise Centre, just off Distillery Street in West Belfast. Mr Gallagher was shot several times by a lone assassin which many now presume was McKeag. Mr Gallagher was a father to seven children and had recently became a grandfather before his death.
On 1 May 1993 Alan Lundy, a former
Following the killing of
Decline
In June 1998 McKeag, a keen motorcyclist, suffered serious injuries when a motorbike he was riding collided with a car being driven by a member of the
A celebrated figure within loyalism for his exploits, cracks began to show in 1999, notably at an event at the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes on the Corcrain estate in Portadown where McKeag was mobbed by fans from the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) and on stage was applauded by all except his C Company comrades Adair and Gary "Smickers" Smyth. Smyth continued the resentment a few months later when, as McKeag received another "Volunteer of the Year" prize, he yelled "what about me" from the audience.[29] With Adair in prison and Smyth in temporary command of C Company, McKeag fell out of favour and was soon ordered off the Shankill, ostensibly for becoming involved in fights between women at illegal UDA-run drinking dens on the Shankill.[2]
When Adair returned to the Shankill in the summer of 2000 he brought McKeag back to use him for the
Personal life
Physically McKeag, like Johnny Adair, was shaven-headed, muscular and heavily tattooed and he wore a miniature golden gun around his neck on a thick gold chain.[3] Maintaining a number of girlfriends simultaneously, McKeag fathered four children by four different women – two daughters both called Stephanie and two sons both called Stephen. In the case of one child, McKeag even delivered it himself after his Newtownards-based girlfriend broke her waters in his car, forcing him to pull into a petrol station to deliver the baby.[3] One of McKeag's girlfriends was Jacqueline Newell who had previously been involved with Derek Adgey, a one-time member of the Royal Marines. Both Newell and Adgey were sentenced in 1995 for passing information about leading republicans including Brian Gillen and Alex Maskey to the UDA and it has been claimed that McKeag was their main point of contact with the organisation.[33] McKeag was also dating Tracey Coulter, daughter of the UDA's Jackie Coulter, later murdered in a UDA/UVF feud.
Outside of his loyalist activities McKeag also had a reputation for having unusual hobbies. An animal lover, McKeag variously owned a
Death and aftermath
McKeag was found dead by family members at his home at Florence Court off the Crumlin Road on 24 September 2000. His face was heavily bruised and a crossbow bolt embedded into the wall nearby, and it was initially assumed that he had been killed; however a post-mortem found that his death was caused by a lethal combination of painkillers and cocaine.[35] Some of his supporters continued to blame Adair, due to the love triangle which emerged between him and McKeag when Tracey Coulter started sleeping with Adair too. It was claimed that Adair's men had entered the house, attacked McKeag, who had fired the crossbow at them, and then forced quantities of cocaine down his throat to kill him. There was no evidence to support these claims.[36]
McKeag was buried at Roselawn Cemetery in the east of the city in front of around 1,000 mourners, including Adair, Smyth and UVF/RHC representatives, with floral tributes sent by Ulster Young Militants and Combat 18.[35] Although by this time he was estranged from the leadership of C Company, McKeag's litany of violence meant he retained his hero status with the younger members of the group and as a result a new mural was painted on the lower Shankill in commemoration of McKeag.[37] It has been updated several times.[38]
Bibliography
- David Lister & Hugh Jordan, Mad Dog: The Rise and Fall of Johnny Adair and C Company, Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing, 2004
- Henry McDonald & Jim Cusack, UDA – Inside the Heart of Loyalist Terror, Dublin: Penguin Ireland, 2004
References
- ^ Young, Connla (22 July 2021). "Damien Walsh killer believed to be Stephen McKeag". The Irish News.
- ^ a b c d McDonald & Cusack, p. 4
- ^ a b c d McDonald & Cusack, p3
- ^ a b c d Lister & Jordan, p132
- ^ McDonald & Cusack, p. 171
- ^ a b McDonald & Cusack, p1
- ^ McDonald & Cusack, p. 180
- ^ McDonald & Cusack, p. 183
- ^ McDonald & Cusack, p. 185
- ^ McDonald & Cusack, p. 201
- ^ McDonald & Cusack, p. 205
- ^ McDonald & Cusack, p. 209
- ^ "INVESTIGATION INTO POLICE HANDLING OF LOYALIST PARAMILITARY MURDERS AND ATTEMPTED MURDERS IN SOUTH BELFAST IN THE PERIOD 1990-1998" Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland Retrieved 13 October 2023
- ^ McDonald &Cusack, p.227
- ^ "Sordid Death of Top Gun". The Guardian. Henry McDonald. 1 October 2000. Retrieved 1 April 2011
- ^ McDonald & Cusack, pp. 1–2
- ^ McDonald & Cusack, pp. 237–238
- ^ Lister & Jordan, p. 152
- ^ McDonald & Cusack, p. 244
- ^ Lister & Jordan, pp. 155–156
- ^ McDonald & Cusack, p. 2
- ^ McDonald & Cusack, p. 245
- ^ Lister & Jordan, p. 156
- ^ Lister & Jordan, p. 208
- ^ McDonald & Cusack, p. 295-296
- ^ McDonald & Cusack, p. 298
- ^ "Strange death of loyalist assassin". The Guardian. 1 October 2000. Archived from the original on 24 October 2021.
- ^ Lister & Jordan, pp. 295–296
- ^ McDonald & Cusack, pp. 3–4
- ^ Lister & Jordan, p. 296
- ^ Loyalist fascism exposes Brits
- ^ McDonald & Cusack, p. 322
- ^ Lister & Jordan, pp. 121–122
- ^ Lister & Jordan, p. 202
- ^ a b McDonald & Cusack, p. 5
- ^ Lister & Jordan, p. 297
- ^ McDonald & Cusack, p. 333
- ^ Fury at new Belfast mural of UDA mass murderer Stephen McKeag