James Mitchell (loyalist)
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 Intelligence Corps documents from late 1972.[5]
Before the Troubles Mitchell had been a member of the B Specials.[6] He joined the RUC Reserve in September 1974, and was stationed at nearby Markethill. He was described as having been a "religious man".[1]
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,[7] although Shields later admitted her "involvement in certain events" to the RUC.[8][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.[9] 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".[10]
Weir named Mitchell as a UVF member who regularly participated in paramilitary activities.[11] Weir claimed that Mitchell admitted being involved in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, and went on to claim that on one occasion he had seen Mitchell mixing home-made ammonium nitrate and fuel oil explosive in the farmyard.[12] Mitchell is named by Joe Tiernan as having personally made the bombs for Dublin and Monaghan along with John Irvine, a local UDR captain and friend of Mitchell, whom Tiernan states stole the gelignite used from local quarries over a period of several months.[13]
According to Sean McPhilemy, Mitchell's farm was also used to launch a car bomb attack outside the Step-in Bar in Clontibret, County Monaghan. McPhilemy states that the August 1976 bombing, which killed two civilians, was planned by Mitchell, Weir, Irvine (whom McPhilemy calls Irwin) and a number of unidentified loyalist paramilitaries. No charges have been brought in relation to the attack.[14] McPhilemy further claims that Mitchell directly conspired with Robin Jackson to carry out two gun attacks on Catholic family homes in Gilford and Whitecross, County Armagh on 4 January 1976, resulting in the killings of three members of the O'Dowd family and three from the Reavey family respectively.[15]
Mitchell left the RUC on 1 July 1977 for "personal reasons".[16] 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. He was buried in Tullyvallen.[1]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Families of the Troubles' victims must learn the truth". Irish Times.
- ↑ The Cassel Report (2006), pp. 8, 14, 21, 25, 51, 56, 58–65
- ↑ "Collusion in the South Armagh / Mid Ulster Area in the mid-1970's". patfinucanecentre.org.
- ↑ The Barron Report (2003), p. 149
- ↑ The Barron Report (2003), p. 176
- ↑ Joe Tiernan, The Dublin and Monaghan Bombings, Eaton Publications, 2010, p. 93
- ↑ The Barron Report
- ↑ "Bear in Mind These Dead". google.com.
- ↑ Seeing Red, John Weir affidavit 3 February 1999 . Retrieved 14 December 2010
- ↑ The Barron Report (2003). p. 147
- ↑ Seeing Red, John Weir affidavit, 3 February 1999.
- ↑ The Barron Report (2003), p. 145
- ↑ Tiernan, p. 94
- ↑ Sean McPhilemy, The Committee – Political Assassination in Northern Ireland, Niwot, Colorado: Roberts Rinehart, 1998, pp.317-318
- ↑ McPhilemy, p. 418
- ↑ Interim Report on the Report of the Independent Commission of Inquiry into the Bombing of Kay's Tavern, Dundalk, p. 93