Gray murder thought to be UDA 'housekeeping act'

Former Ulster Defence Association brigadier Jim Gray tonight joined a grim catalogue of leading loyalist paramilitary figures to be gunned down on the streets of Northern Ireland.

However, unlike the murders of leading loyalists like John McMichael and Billy Wright, his murder was not expected to unleash a wave of violence against the republican community.

A flamboyant figure in the UDA, Jim Gray had a high profile in the Northern Ireland tabloid press.

His dress sense and penchant for jewellery earned him the nickname of Doris Day.

But he also presided over the East Belfast brigade of the UDA, a ruthless terror organisation also steeped in criminal activity.

As his body lay stretched out behind a car outside the house where he had been living after being given bail following his arrest earlier this year, residents in the Knock Grove area were saying little about the events which led to his death.

But former associates in the Ulster Defence Association, which expelled him before his arrest, and others in loyalist paramilitary circles believed he had been gunned down as part of an internal housekeeping move by the organisation.

“This is different from other shootings,” a loyalist source observed.

“Word of the shooting travelled very fast. People knew within 10, 15 minutes in other parts of the city that Jim Gray had been shot in East Belfast.

“I heard from someone at the Glentoran [football] match. He would have had a long list of people who would have wanted him not to spill the beans about what went on in the UDA.”

Another loyalist source said the shooting of Mr Gray amounted to the settling of old scores.

“This won’t have an impact on the wider process,” he said.

“This is something which really only affects the UDA.

“There is a sense that things are coming to an end in Northern Ireland and maybe this is a case of people tying up the remaining loose ends.”