Gusty Spence, dies in hospital

The former loyalist paramilitary leader Gusty Spence has died in hospital. The 78-year-old had been ill for some time. In the 1960s, he founded the modern Ulster Volunteer Force, an organisation which was responsible for hundreds of sectarian murders during the Troubles. He was jailed for life for the murder of a Catholic barman in 1966 and served 18 years in prison. He later became involved in politics and announced the landmark loyalist paramilitary ceasefires in 1994. In 2007, he announced that the UVF and an associated group, the Red Hand Commando, would cease to exist. Gusty Spence's conviction for murder, which he always denied, has been referred to the Criminal Cases Review Commission by his family in light of new evidence being brought forward. Godfather Spence is regarded as the first terrorist godfather in Northern Ireland but also the man who took the first steps towards ending UVF violence. In May 1966, the UVF issued a statement, announcing that it was declaring war on the IRA. While republicans were the expressed target, the attacks that followed were explicitly sectarian. Spence was initially held over the murder of the first victim of the Troubles, John Scullion, who was shot by the UVF in the Falls Road area of Belfast. The charges were dropped but later in 1966 he was given life for the murder of Peter Ward, who had called in to a Shankill Road bar with Catholic workmates and was shot dead as he left. It was during his time in the Maze prison that Spence began to talk politics and encouraged others to do the same. After his release December 1984, Spence was a key figure in developing UVF thinking and indirectly its political wing, the Progressive Unionist Party. 'True remorse' Almost 10 years later in October 1994, he was chosen to announce to the world that the main loyalist paramilitary groups, the UVF and the UDA, were declaring ceasefires in response to an IRA cessation. Spence said loyalists offered "abject and true remorse" to the loved ones of all the innocent victims of the Troubles. Despite the statement, the UVF was involved in sporadic violence subseqently. But, following significant political pressure, the UVF claimed in 2007 that it was decommissioning its weapons. Despite years away from the spotlight, Spence was again asked to read the statement, a role which senior loyalists said was indicative of his significance within Northern Ireland loyalism.