James Mitchell (loyalist)

James Mitchell

James Mitchell (1920 - May 2008) was an Ulster loyalist and Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) Reserve officer who provided a base and storage depot for the Glenanne gang at his farm at Glenanne, near Mountnorris, County Armagh, during the Troubles.[1] The gang, which contained over 40 known members, included soldiers of the British Army's Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), officers of the RUC, the Mid-Ulster Brigade of the illegal paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and some Ulster Defence Association (UDA) members.[2][3]

The Barron Report states that Billy Hanna, leader of the UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade, asked Mitchell for permission to use his farm as a UVF arms dump and bomb-making site.[4] Information that loyalist paramilitaries were regularly meeting at the farm appeared on British Army intelligence documents from late 1972.[5]

Mitchell joined the RUC Reserve in September 1974, and was stationed at nearby Markethill.

Mitchell and his female housekeeper, Lily Shields, both denied knowledge that the farm was used for illicit paramilitary activity. They also denied partaking in any UVF attacks,[6] although Shields later admitted her "involvement in certain events" to the RUC.[7][1] In an affidavit, John Weir affirmed that the farmhouse was used as a base for UVF operations that included the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.[8] Weir also stated that on one occasion an RUC constable gave him two weapons to store at the Glenanne farm:

"He then offered me the two sub-machine guns because he knew about my connection to Loyalist paramilitaries. I accepted them and took them to Mitchell's farmhouse".[9]

Weir named Mitchell as a UVF member who regularly participated in paramilitary activities.[10] Weir claimed that Mitchell admitted being involved in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, and went on to claim that he had seen Mitchell mixing home-made ammonium nitrate and fuel-oil explosive in the farmyard on one occasion.[11]

Mitchell left the RUC on 1 July 1977 for "personal reasons".[12] He was convicted for possession of weapons found on his land after an RUC raid in December 1978 and received a one-year suspended sentence.[1]

Mitchell died, aged 88, in May 2008 at Daisy Hill Hospital, Newry.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Families of the Troubles' victims must learn the truth". Irish Times.
  2. ↑ The Cassel Report (2006), pp. 8, 14, 21, 25, 51, 56, 58–65
  3. ↑ "Collusion in the South Armagh / Mid Ulster Area in the mid-1970's". patfinucanecentre.org.
  4. ↑ The Barron Report (2003), p. 149
  5. ↑ The Barron Report (2003), p. 176
  6. ↑ The Barron Report
  7. ↑ "Bear in Mind These Dead". google.com.
  8. ↑ Seeing Red, John Weir affidavit 3 February 1999 . Retrieved 14 December 2010
  9. ↑ The Barron Report (2003). p. 147
  10. ↑ Seeing Red, John Weir affidavit, 3 February 1999.
  11. ↑ The Barron Report (2003), p. 145
  12. ↑ Interim Report on the Report of the Independent Commission of Inquiry into the Bombing of Kay's Tavern, Dundalk, p. 93