Despite his conversion to Christianity, Somerville remained virulently anti-Catholic and he strongly opposed the Good Friday Agreement. He then drove to a lay-by on the Newry-Banbridge dual carriageway and met up with another five men, who were all wearing British Army uniforms. The Glenanne gang was a loose alliance of loyalist extremists allegedly operating under the command of British Military Intelligence and/or RUC Special Branch. 2023 Getty Images. "A hundred of your men haven't done what I've done," he told a UVF leader. [58] He was later shot dead in Portadown on 25 January 1976, allegedly by Jackson for having informed the RUC about Thomas Crozier's participation in the attack. Chris Hudson, a former intermediary between the government of Ireland and the UVF, whose role was crucial to the Northern Ireland peace process. Three band members were shot dead by loyalist gunmen. This is one of the last photographs taken of the band before the massacre on 31st July 1975. After receiving radio confirmation that there were no authorised checkpoints in the area that night, they reported the incident and requested help from the British Army to investigate it, but no action was taken. Journalist Emily O'Reilly noted in the Sunday Tribune that none of the three men convicted of the massacre ever implicated Nairac in the attack or accused him of causing Boyle's death. Crime Scene Photos The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office released graphics images this week, taken in the aftermath of 27-year-old Christian Obumseli's death. [53] The judge, by sentencing McDowell and Crozier to 35 years imprisonment each, had handed down the longest life sentences in the history of Northern Ireland; he commented that "killings like the Miami Showband must be stopped". The 55-cent stamp, designed with a 1967 publicity photograph of the band, included two of the slain members, Fran O'Toole and Brian McCoy, as part of the line-up when Dickie Rock was the frontman. Das Getty Images Design ist eine eingetragene Marke von Getty Images. The band's road manager, Brian Maguire, had already gone ahead a few minutes earlier in the equipment van. Survivors and relatives of those murdered in the Miami Showband massacre are to receive nearly 1.5m (1.75m) in total damages to settle claims over . [40] Three of the musicians were killed: lead singer Fran O'Toole, trumpeter Brian McCoy, and guitarist Tony Geraghty. [4][22] McAlea made his way up the embankment to the main road where he hitched a lift to alert the RUC at their barracks in Newry. [19], The 1975 line-up comprised four Catholics and two Protestants. They received the blessing of jailed UVF leader Gusty Spence, who was serving life for the Malvern Street murder and shootings in 1966. Three UVF members are being treated for gunshot wounds after last night but not in hospital. Despite severe burns sustained in the Miami attack, a month later Jackson was soon back on a murder mission with his trusted fellow killer John Somerville. [36], Des McAlea and Stephen Travers heard two of the gunmen rummaging in the back of the minibus, where they both kept their respective instruments. In a rare interview with the BBC Spotlight programme before his death of kidney cancer in 2015, Somerville spoke only once and very briefly about the Miami Showband Massacre. Ray Millar, the band's drummer, was not with them as he had chosen to go to his home town of Antrim to spend the night with his parents. [12] Journalist Joe Tiernan suggested that Hanna was shot for refusing to participate in the Miami Showband attack and that he had become an informer for the Garda in exchange for immunity from prosecution for the Dublin bombings. Originally called the Downbeats Quartet, the Miami Showband was reformed in 1962 by rock promoter Tom Doherty, who gave them their new name. As they were being questioned, Major Boyle and Lieutenant Somerville began to search the minibus. The Miami Showband's surviving members Des Lee, Ray Miller and Stephen Travers Credit . [22] He presently resides near Craigavon. "The cops showed John a bag containing a human arm with a Mid-Ulster UVF tattoo on it. Weir's affidavit implicating Robin Jackson in a number of attacks including the 1974 Dublin bombings was published in the 2003 Barron Report; the findings of an official investigation into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings commissioned by Irish Supreme Court Judge Henry Barron. [65] Earlier that night, three RUC officers in an unmarked car had been stopped at a checkpoint but allowed through. Miljoenen beelden, videos en muzikale opties van hoge kwaliteit wachten op u. Maak gebruik van de wereldwijde schaalgrootte, data-gedreven inzichten en het netwerk van meer dan 340.000 makers van Getty Images om voor uw merk exclusieve content te creren. [92], Travers also visited the home of Thomas Crozier, hoping to meet with him but the latter did not come to the door. The music ranged from rock and country and western to Dixieland jazz. Jackson had assumed command of the Mid-Ulster UVF just a few days before the Miami Showband attack, after allegedly shooting Hanna dead outside his home in Lurgan on 27 July 1975. The Story With thanks to Jimmy Harte, Anto Long and Caroline Allen Dickie's Miami (1962-1972) Few bands in Ireland have had as prolific, and tragic, a history as the Miami. [44] The independent panel of inquiry commissioned by the Pat Finucane Centre concluded that there was "credible evidence that the principal perpetrator [of the Miami Showband attack] was a man who was not prosecuted alleged RUC Special Branch agent Robin Jackson". According to Martin Dillon, the order to shoot was given by the patrol's apparent leader, James McDowell,[36] to eliminate witnesses to the bogus checkpoint and subsequent bombing. But as the death toll mounted, so did Somerville's drinking. [9] According to authors Paul Larkin and Martin Dillon, Jackson was accompanied by Harris Boyle when he killed Hanna. In photographs of the Miami Showband in the 1970s he is a slim and beautiful young man in blue denim , bright-eyed and brimming with fun and music and confidence in himself and in the future.. [67][clarification needed], A number of suspects were arrested by the RUC in early August 1975. "Billy Mac") took over as the group's frontman when the Simon brothers quit the band. In late 1974, the Miami Showband's song "Clap Your Hands and Stomp Your Feet" (featuring O'Toole on lead vocals) reached no. A UVF patrol led by Major Boyle was suspicious of two vehicles, a minibus and a car parked near the border. The Miami Showband massacre in 1975, had a devastating effect on the showband and live music scene. Jackson was convinced Hanna was a Special Branch informer and he feared he may spill details of the imminent Miami attack to his RUC handler. Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention, Timeline of Ulster Volunteer Force actions, "Sunningdale pushed hardliners into fatal outrages in 1974", "Events: Dublin and Monaghan Bombs Chronology of Events", "Collusion in the South Armagh / Mid Ulster Area in the mid-1970s", "All About the Miami Showband (19611996)", "The Miami Band Lined Up Against the Van. This meant that both it and the UDA were legal organisations. Halfway to Newry, their minibus was stopped at what appeared to be a military checkpoint where gunmen in British Army uniforms ordered them to line up by the roadside. [43], Ballistic evidence indicates that the 10-member gang took at least six guns with them on the attack. A child of Northern Ireland's Troubles recalls that fateful night when The Miami Showband was ambushed by the Ulster Volunteer Force on this day in 1975. However, Martin Dillon alleged that the bomb was meant to go off in the Irish Republic. [58], Following the post-mortems, funerals were held for the three slain musicians; they received televised news coverage by RT, Ireland's public service broadcaster. [96], In a report on Nairac's alleged involvement in the massacre, published in the Sunday Mirror newspaper on 16 May 1999, Colin Wills called the ambush "one of the worst atrocities in the 30-year history of the Troubles". I only came into it because of my UDR connection and the fact that I had a uniform. "Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights, Sub-Committee on the Barron Report", "The Miami Showband Massacre, 1975: A Survivor's Search for the Truth", "Miami Showband Massacre: Involvement of UVF Man Robin Jackson". Photograph: Independent News and Media/Getty Images In the ensuing confusion the UVF men opened fire on the band, killing three and wounding two. Free shipping for many products! One of the first famous crime scene photos was taken on May 5, 1903, in the home of a Parisian woman named Madame Debeinche who had been murdered. The explosion ripped through the building, killing 21-year-old married woman Marion Bowen, who was eight months pregnant at the time. The two men were found shot dead nearby. The UVF man, who identified himself only as "the Craftsman", apologised to Travers for the attack, and explained that the UVF gunmen shot the band because they "had panicked" that night. Aged 70, he died of cancer of the kidney. [4] He spoke with an educated English accent and immediately took charge, ordering a man who appeared to have been the leader of the patrol to tell Crozier to obtain their names and dates of birth instead of addresses. [46] Some time after the attack, RUC officers questioned Stephen Travers at Dublin Castle. The only identifiable body part from the bombers to survive the blast (which had been heard up to 4 miles (6.4km) away) was a severed arm belonging to Wesley Somerville. [8] The brigade was described by author Don Mullan as one of the most ruthless units operating in the 1970s. [59] Two days later, Portadown disc jockey Norman "Mooch" Kerr, aged 28,[60] was shot dead by the IRA as he packed up his equipment after a show at the Camrick Bar in Armagh. And six years later - seconds before he was handed four life sentences - his voice boomed across the courtroom: "I'm being sent to prison because I wouldn't become an informer like the rest of them," he yelled at the trial judge. [76] Retired diplomat Alistair Kerr wrote a biography of Nairac entitled "Betrayal: the Murder of Robert Nairac" published in 2015, which offers documentary evidence that clears Nairac of having been at Buskhill overseeing the attack. [13] Dillon suggested that because there were a number of UDR members in the UVF, and were planned to be used for the Miami Showband ambush, Hanna was considered to have been a "security risk", and the UVF decided he had to be killed before he could alert the authorities. On July 30, 1972, the final details. [34], Thomas Crozier recounted that on the night of the killings, he had driven to the grounds of a school in Lurgan where he had picked up two men. With Dublin-born singer [Jimmy Harte] as frontman followed by Dickie Rock as frontman, the Miami Showband underwent many personnel changes over the years. [29] Travers also stepped up to the gunmen and told them to be careful with his guitar. [46][49] In 1993, Boyle was named by The Hidden Hand programme as one of the Dublin car bombers. It was one of a series of four stamps issued by An Post, celebrating the "golden age of the Irish showband era from the 1950s to the 1970s".[24]. 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The HET said the killings raised "disturbing questions about collusive and corrupt behaviour". When McCoy refused, Jackson then hatched his plan to murder McCoy and his bandmates in retaliation for what he viewed as having betrayed the loyalist cause, even macabrely choosing Buskhill as the ambush site due to its similarity to Bus-kill. It was his brother Wesley's arm," said the source. Findings in a report carried out by the PSNI's Historic Enquiries Team into the Miami atrocity stated that there was fingerprint evidence linking Robin Jackson to the attack. Five people were killed, including three members of The Miami Showband, who were one of Ireland's most popular cabaret bands. It was released under the heading Ulster Central Intelligence Agency Miami Showband Incident Report:[20][48][42]. Travers had described the English-accented man as having been of normal height and thought he had fair hair, but was not certain. The conflict in Northern Ireland, known as "the Troubles", began in the late 1960s. [18][22] Meanwhile, two other gunmen at the front of the minibus were placing the briefcase containing the bomb under the driver's seat. Lightly built and standing less than 5ft 7in, he wasn't a stereotypical loyalist killer. [2] On 4 April 1974, the proscription against the UVF had been lifted by Merlyn Rees, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Somerville would never have gone to prison if he'd agreed to work for the RUC. Aaron Carter 's mother believes he was the victim of a crime, not an overdose -- so, she's made the tough decision to let the . [34][81][82] The panel stated that it was unclear why Crozier, Jackson and Neill were not in police custody at the time the Miami Showband killings took place. It is obvious, therefore, that the UVF patrol was justified in taking the action it did and that the killing of the three Showband members should be regarded as justifiable homicide. Optimieren Sie Ihren Workflow mit unserem erstklassigen Digitalen Asset Management System. [21][22][31] Travers thought that McCoy, a Protestant from Northern Ireland, was familiar with security checkpoints and had reckoned the regular British Army would be more efficient than the Ulster Defense Regiment (UDR), who had a reputation for unprofessional and unpredictable behaviour, especially toward people from the Republic. But he quit when the Troubles erupted on the streets of Belfast and Derry in the autumn of 1969. [68] McDowell had pleaded guilty. O'Toole was noted for his good looks and popularity with female fans,[20] and was described by the Miami Showband's former bass guitarist, Paul Ashford, as having been the "greatest soul singer" in Ireland. But two other UVF men, Thomas Crozier and James McDowell - both soldiers in the UDR - were jailed for life. He described the scene as having "just the smell of utterly death about the place burning blood, burning tyres". Crozier had pleaded not guilty. [62] The attack was blamed on loyalists; Lost Lives an account of every death in the conflict states that reliable loyalist sources have confirmed the UVF was responsible. It took place on the A1 road at Buskhill in County Down, Northern Ireland. it is to say the least highly dubious, if not absurd to conclude from such superficial factors that Nairac was present at the Miami murders. [19] Although not a member of any loyalist paramilitary group,[26] he was a close friend of Harris Boyle and the two were often seen together. The Miami Showband killings (also called the Miami Showband Massacre) was an attack by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group, on 31 July 1975. It has been suggested that the bomb was meant to explode en route, so that the victim band members would appear to be Irish Republican Army (IRA) bomb-smugglers and stricter security measures would be established at the border. He was one of the men taken in by the RUC in August 1975 and questioned as a suspect in the killings, but was released without charge. [17] Five Catholic civilians were shot; passenger Joseph Toland was killed outright and driver James Marks died of his wounds in January 1976. Browse 22 the miami showband stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. In January 2015, he was found dead in his Shankill Road flat. Her brothers Seamus and Michael also died in the attack, which was later claimed by the Protestant Action Force, a cover name for the Mid-Ulster UVF. The following year, Fran O'Toole became the band's lead vocalist after Mick Roche (Billy Mac's replacement) was sacked. [35], On 22 January 1976, a second UDR soldier, Sergeant James Roderick Shane McDowell (aged 29, an optical worker, also from Lurgan) was arrested and charged with the Miami killings. He also took part in fatal bomb attacks at Kay's Tavern in Dundalk and Donnelly's Bar at Silverbridge, south Armagh. 34575/04 by Sean McCartney against the United Kingdom: The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section)", "John Weir's Affadavit, Statement by John Weir 03.01.99", "On this day 15October: 1976: UDR men jailed for Showband killings", "Miami Showband massacre survivor shakes with anguish as he remembers his slain friends 40 years on", "Evidence clears Robert Nairac of murders he has been linked to: author", "MoD documents link Robert Nairac to Miami Showband massacre", "Statement of Miami Showband families and survivors in response to the findings of the Historical Enquiries Team into the murders of Anthony Geraghty, Brian McCoy and Francis O'Toole", "Day of 'The Jackal' has finally drawn to a close", "Robert Nairac in command at massacre says Miami guitarist", "Miami Showband Killer Dies at 70; UVF murderer Somerville found dead of cancer in his squalid flat", "Memorial to victims of Miami massacre to be unveiled in Dublin", "Miami Showband killings: Police tipoff helped suspect elude justice, says report", "Miami Showband massacre: HET raises collusion concerns", "Netflix fails to make sense of the Miami Showband Massacre", 'Remastered: The Miami Showband Massacre' On Netflix Unmasks a Conspiracy and False Flag Attack, Houses of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights, "Interim Report on the Report of the Independent Commission of Inquiry into the Dublin and Monaghan Bombings [The Barron Report]", "Interim Report on the Report of the Independent Commission of Inquiry into the Bombing of Kay's Tavern, Dundalk", Interim reports (more detail than final reports) of Irish parliamentary inquiries, Ceasefires of the Provisional IRA, UVF, UDA and RHC, Murders of Andrew Robb and David McIlwaine, Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Miami_Showband_killings&oldid=1142010371, Improvised explosive device bombings in Northern Ireland, People killed by security forces during The Troubles (Northern Ireland), Articles with dead external links from April 2012, Articles with dead external links from May 2017, Articles with permanently dead external links, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from July 2020, Articles with dead external links from February 2023, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 01:35. And after stopping GAA fans 22-year-old Colm McCartney and 32-year-old John Farmer, they shot them dead. [5] This move made loyalists apprehensive and suspicious that a secret accord was being conducted between the British government and the IRA, and that Northern Ireland's Protestants would be "sold out". Its basic repertoire included cover versions of pop songs that were currently in the charts, and standard dance numbers. It also devastated the burgeoning live music scene in Northern Ireland.. [98] In 2011, Journalist Kevin Myers denounced the attack with the following statement: "in its diabolical inventiveness against such a group of harmless and nave young men, it is easily one of the most depraved [of the Troubles]". Driven by a personal tragedy, a pianist-turned-lawyer navigates the complex world of divorce fighting for his clients to win by any means necessary. 8 in the Irish charts. [42], When the RUC arrived at the site they found five dead bodies, a seriously injured Stephen Travers, body parts, the smoldering remains of the destroyed minibus, debris from the bomb blast, bullets, spent cartridges and the band members' personal possessions, including clothing, shoes and a photograph of the group, strewn across the area. Among the large crowd he spotted Billy McCaughey, a former police sergeant and convicted killer who had named his UVF accomplices to investigating detectives. Near the anniversary of the killings, a temporary plaque is placed at the location of the killings. Multiple jurors also cried, covered their mouths and turned away as the graphic. Other photographs in the set show similar injuries to all four limbs, his buttocks and face. It comprised elements of the British security forces who, together with the UVF, carried out sectarian killings in the Mid-Ulster/County Armagh area. At 2.30am, their Volkswagen minibus was stopped at a bogus military checkpoint, where gunmen in British Army uniforms ordered the band members to line up by the roadside. The Miami Showband was a popular Dublin-based Irish showband, enjoying fame and, according to journalist Peter Taylor, "Beatle-like devotion" from fans on both sides of the Irish border. . Two days before, Jackson and Somerville had carried out a bomb and gun attack at McGleenan's pub in Armagh, killing its owner Jack McGleenan and customers Patrick Hughes and Thomas Morris. [22], According to Peter Taylor, the Provisional IRA's gun and bomb attack on the loyalist Bayardo Bar in Belfast's Shankill Road on 13 August was in retaliation for the Miami Showband ambush. They subsequently set up a roadblock with "all the trappings of a regular military checkpoint". A musician who survived the Miami showband massacre has, 40 years on, made an appeal to trace a young couple who helped him at the time.