Catholic ex-soldier 'posed as relative of loyalist gang chief'
A Catholic former soldier passed himself off to colleagues as a relative of the leader of the notorious loyalist gang the Shankill Butchers, it was claimed today.
A corporal from Cork told an employment tribunal that Patrick Murphy wore a Glasgow Rangers shirt to pretend to be a loyalist during his training at St Patrick’s Barracks in Ballymena, Co Antrim.
A training instructor told the tribunal that Mr Murphy claimed he was a nephew of Lenny Murphy, leader of the gang who slaughtered Catholics in north Belfast during the 1970s. The Shankill Road UDF boss was later shot dead by the IRA.
The corporal said: “I had no idea what religion Mr Murphy was when I first met him. Mr Murphy portrayed himself as a loyalist. He used to wear a Rangers top and sometimes would refer to Catholics as ‘The Taigs’.
“He had a story that his uncle was Lenny Murphy, of the Shankill Butchers.”
Patrick Murphy, 33, has alleged he was the victim of a campaign of sectarian abuse during his time in the Royal Irish Regiment.
He claimed that whilst training in St Patrick Barracks he complained about other recruits playing loyalist music.
But the corporal, himself a Catholic, said that he had no recollection of Mr Murphy making any complaints.
“I know when I served in the department that it would not have allowed loyalist music.
“There was never any sectarianism in Ballymena,” he added.
