John White (loyalist)
Encyclopedia
John White is a former leading loyalist
in Northern Ireland
. He was sometimes known by the nickname 'Coco'. White was a leading figure in the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association
(UDA) and, following a prison sentence for murder, entered politics as a central figure in the Ulster Democratic Party
(UDP). Always a close ally of Johnny Adair
, White was ran out of Northern Ireland when Adair fell from grace and is no longer involved in loyalism.
Ballymurphy area of the Springfield Road, Belfast
but had left upon the outbreak of the Troubles
to move to the Old Lodge Road area of the lower Shankill. White has claimed that although his house "wasn't a loyalist one" his father "hated Catholics" and was bitter about what he saw as the treachery of the Republic of Ireland
in not becoming involved in the Second World War.
, a vigilante group based on the Woodvale estate in the upper Shankill, in the early 1970s. Before long the WDA was absorbed into the Ulster Defence Association
(UDA) and White became one of this group's leading members.
White was close to Charles Harding Smith
, who emerged as the first leader of the West Belfast UDA
, and in April 1972 he accompanied Harding Smith to London
where the two held a meeting with an arms dealer in order to procure weapons for the UDA. However both men were arrested after the meeting and charged with the procurement of arms. After a series of mistakes by the prosecution however the case collapsed in December of that year allowing White and the other defendants to return to Belfast.
replied that the majority of UFF victims were in fact Catholic civilians but White responded that the UFF felt that by killing non-combatants the Catholic community might force the IRA to surrender. He was the UFF's "Captain Black", a pseudonym often used for press statements, and that organisation admitted, without naming him, that he had been involved in murders. Amongst these was the brutal killing of the Roman Catholic Social Democratic and Labour Party
Senator Paddy Wilson
, who was stabbed to death and had his throat cut in 1973 along with Irene Andrews, Wilson's Protestant secretary. Their bodies were found dumped in a quarry on the Hightown Road near Cavehill
, with Wilson having suffered 32 stab wounds and Andrews 19. White would later claim that on the night of the killing he and Davy Payne
had led an assassination squad with the intention of killing a Catholic and that Wilson and Andrews had just been discovered by accident rather than being actual targets.
Following the Wilson killings White was interned for a while before being released again. He was arrested for the murders in 1978 and under interrogation confessed his guilt and expressed remorse. White was handed a life sentence for the double murder soon afterwards. Initially following his imprisonment White remained an important paramilitary figure and served as officer commanding of the UDA inside the Maze
. He also studied with the Open University
and gained a degree in Social sciences
and criminology
.
(UDP) and became a familiar face as the party worked with the Progressive Unionist Party
to help broker a loyalist ceasefire. Indeed when the statement of ceasefire from the Combined Loyalist Military Command
was read by Gusty Spence
at Fernhill House in October 1994 White was one of the UDP delegates sitting alongside Spence. Initially a strong supporter of the Belfast Agreement
, White was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum
talks body in 1995, although he (along with the UDP as a whole) failed to gain a seat in the Northern Ireland Assembly
. According to Sammy Duddy
White's failure to get elected was inevitable as the savage nature of his earlier double murder had sickened even many loyalists and as a result there was a reluctance to vote for White. However White was a high profile figure in the developing tendency of loyalist politics and on 22 July 1996 he was even part of a four man delegation, along with Gary McMichael
, David Ervine
and Hugh Smyth
, to meet Prime Minister John Major
at 10 Downing Street
.
Given his background within loyalism, White became the closest UDP member to Johnny Adair
and began to work closely with the 'C' Company commander, much to the concern of many of his fellow UDP politicians, who saw Adair as a destabilising influence, especially in relations with the Ulster Volunteer Force
(UVF). At this point White remained committed to the Northern Ireland peace process
and when word came out from the Maze that the incarcerated Adair was wavering in his support of peace White accompanied Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Mo Mowlam
into the jail on 9 January 1998 to meet with Adair and other leading UDA prisoners to discuss their grievances. White and Adair had in fact been near neighbours during Adair's childhood, with both of their families living on the Old Lodge Road, although with thirteen years between them they only vaguely knew each other
White, who had long been a public exponent of decommissioning accompanied Adair to meet General John de Chastelain
of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning
on 10 December 1999, with leading UDA members John Gregg
, Jackie McDonald
and Winkie Dodds also in attendance. Although the meeting ended inconclusively White had convinced Adair that decommissioning could make his name and soon afterwards Adair called a meeting of the Inner Council at which he said the UDA should decommission every weapon it had. All the brigadiers rejected the move although Adair leaned on Jimbo Simpson
and another unidentified brigadier so as when a vote was taken it was tied at three votes for and three against. After the others had left Adair recalled them to a second meeting at which he did not turn up but instead sent White to read a prepared statement. In this Adair attacked his fellow brigadiers for their lack of forward vision, particularly attacking North Antrim and Londonderry chief Billy McFarland
whom he denounced as a dinosaur. Jackie McDonald dismissed the whole plan as a scam by Adair, whom he believed wanted to make him self look good to the world's media in return for giving up a load of old and spent weapons and indeed around this time Adair had already opened a new line of contact with arms dealers in Amsterdam
from whom he was procuring more sophisticated weapons for his main power base of C Company.
(LVF) and a dissident position so too did White increasingly become associated with the renegade end of loyalism. In 1999 he strongly condemned the killing of Frankie Curry
, an active dissident who originated the Red Hand Defenders
covername, claiming "it's disgraceful that a man who dedicated his life to the loyalist cause should be cut down like this by people who call themselves loyalists". When Adair, who had also praised Curry, was released under the terms of the Belfast Agreement on 14 September 1999 White met him outside the prison gates and accompanied him back to the Shankill.
White meanwhile came under heavy police surveillance. As a result of what he claimed to be his success as a property dealer he had become considerably wealthy and rumours began to circulate that his wealth was actually derived from his involvement in the drugs trade. White's nickname "Coco" emerged at this time due to his alleged involvement with cocaine. Progressive Unionist Party
leader David Ervine would claim that he once heard White describe himself as a "patriotic drug dealer" whilst Jackie McDonald
claims that he and Adair once left a UDA Inner Council meeting, only to return a few minutes later with white dust around their nostrils. Adair's some time girlfriend Jackie "Legs" Robinson also claimed that on one occasion she had been accompanied by White to Kelly's nightclub in Portrush
and that as they travelled White took out a large bag of ecstasy tablets and gave her two. At no time was White ever prosecuted for any drug related crimes however.
On 19 August 2000 White read a brief statement at a "Loyalist Day of Culture" on the lower Shankill before Adair and other UDA members, wearing balaclavas, took the stage and fired machine guns. Later that same day a bitter loyalist feud
broke out between Adair's men and the local UVF, who hated Adair's LVF allies. White's office in the mid-Shankill was blown up by the UVF as soon as the feud started and in order to underline his support for Adair White established his new office on Boundary Way, facing Adair's house. The feud fizzled out when Adair was imprisoned soon afterwards but White remained close and the following year was a regular at the Holy Cross dispute
alongside Adair's brother James.
White was again on hand when Adair was released on 15 May 2002 and mad a speech in which he claimed that Adair would make " a positive contribution to the peace process". On Adair's behalf White even held a meeting with Sinn Fein
's Alex Maskey
to discuss peace strategies. The meeting was not sanctioned by the rest of the UDA and soon Adair was linking up with the LVF to target fellow brigadiers such as Jim Gray
and John Gregg. In October 2002 both Adair and White were expelled from the UDA after a stormy meeting of the Inner Council. After Adair supporters killed Gregg in early 2003 Jackie McDonald launched an attack on Adair's lower Shankill stronghold and ran his supporters, including White, out of the area. They were put on the ferry to Scotland
and ordered not to return. One of the main catalysts for the launch of the attack had been a television appearance by White the day before it happened in which he described himself as "indifferent" to the killing of Gregg, a figure widely respected in loyalism for having shot and wounded Gerry Adams
in the 1980s.
White and the others were escorted to Larne
by the police and immediately caught the ferry to Cairnryan
. White arrived in the company of "Fat" Jackie Thompson and the two were detained for a while by Special Branch
officers attached to Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary
. In the immediate aftermath he told the press "I will return". However White, whose precise whereabouts are still unclear, stated soon afterwards that he was done with the UDA and loyalism in general. He was also reported as having become a born-again Christian. A 2003 Panorama
programme stated White was living in the Salford area of Manchester
.
Ulster loyalism
Ulster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. He was sometimes known by the nickname 'Coco'. White was a leading figure in the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association
Ulster Defence Association
The Ulster Defence Association is the largest although not the deadliest loyalist paramilitary and vigilante group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during "The Troubles"...
(UDA) and, following a prison sentence for murder, entered politics as a central figure in the Ulster Democratic Party
Ulster Democratic Party
The Ulster Democratic Party was a small loyalist political party in Northern Ireland. It was established in June 1981 as the Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party by the Ulster Defence Association to replace their New Ulster Political Research Group...
(UDP). Always a close ally of Johnny Adair
Johnny Adair
Jonathan Adair, better known as Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair is the former leader of the "C Company", 2nd Battalion Shankill Road, West Belfast Brigade of the "Ulster Freedom Fighters" . This was a cover name used by the Ulster Defence Association , an Ulster loyalist paramilitary organisation...
, White was ran out of Northern Ireland when Adair fell from grace and is no longer involved in loyalism.
Early years
White was one of eight children, two of whom had died in infancy, whose father was permanently disabled as a result of wartime injuries. The family had initially lived on the mainly nationalistIrish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
Ballymurphy area of the Springfield Road, Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
but had left upon the outbreak of the Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
to move to the Old Lodge Road area of the lower Shankill. White has claimed that although his house "wasn't a loyalist one" his father "hated Catholics" and was bitter about what he saw as the treachery of the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
in not becoming involved in the Second World War.
Early UDA activity
White began his career in loyalism with a group called the Woodvale Defence AssociationWoodvale Defence Association
The Woodvale Defence Association was a loyalist vigilante group in the Woodvale district of Belfast.The organisation grew from a few smaller vigilante groups. It initially met in a pigeon fancier's club on Leopold Street, a location found on the initiative of Charles Harding Smith, who kept some...
, a vigilante group based on the Woodvale estate in the upper Shankill, in the early 1970s. Before long the WDA was absorbed into the Ulster Defence Association
Ulster Defence Association
The Ulster Defence Association is the largest although not the deadliest loyalist paramilitary and vigilante group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during "The Troubles"...
(UDA) and White became one of this group's leading members.
White was close to Charles Harding Smith
Charles Harding Smith
Charles Harding Smith was a loyalist leader in Northern Ireland and the first effective leader of the Ulster Defence Association...
, who emerged as the first leader of the West Belfast UDA
UDA West Belfast Brigade
The UDA West Belfast Brigade is the section of the Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary group the Ulster Defence Association based in the western quarter of Belfast in the Greater Shankill area...
, and in April 1972 he accompanied Harding Smith to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
where the two held a meeting with an arms dealer in order to procure weapons for the UDA. However both men were arrested after the meeting and charged with the procurement of arms. After a series of mistakes by the prosecution however the case collapsed in December of that year allowing White and the other defendants to return to Belfast.
Ulster Freedom Fighters and the Paddy Wilson killing
White was credited with inventing the "Ulster Freedom Fighters" (UFF) covername adopted in 1973 in order to help the UDA to avoid being outlawed. He claimed that the UDA had become too bloated, having as it did around 30,000 members, to act efficiently and that it was felt there was a need to separate off a hardcore of militants who were "willing to take the war to the IRA". When Peter TaylorPeter Taylor (Journalist)
Peter Taylor born in Scarborough, North Riding of Yorkshire is a British journalist and documentary-maker who had covered for many years the political and armed conflict in Northern Ireland, widely known as the Troubles...
replied that the majority of UFF victims were in fact Catholic civilians but White responded that the UFF felt that by killing non-combatants the Catholic community might force the IRA to surrender. He was the UFF's "Captain Black", a pseudonym often used for press statements, and that organisation admitted, without naming him, that he had been involved in murders. Amongst these was the brutal killing of the Roman Catholic Social Democratic and Labour Party
Social Democratic and Labour Party
The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social-democratic, Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. Its basic party platform advocates Irish reunification, and the further devolution of powers while Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom...
Senator Paddy Wilson
Paddy Wilson
Patrick Gerard Wilson, known as Paddy Wilson was a politician in Northern Ireland who was killed by the "Ulster Freedom Fighters", a covername used by the Ulster Defence Association ....
, who was stabbed to death and had his throat cut in 1973 along with Irene Andrews, Wilson's Protestant secretary. Their bodies were found dumped in a quarry on the Hightown Road near Cavehill
Cavehill
Cavehill, historically known as Ben Madigan , is a basaltic hill overlooking the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland. It forms part of the southeastern border of the Antrim Plateau. It is distinguished by its famous 'Napoleon's Nose', a basaltic outcrop which resembles the profile of the famous...
, with Wilson having suffered 32 stab wounds and Andrews 19. White would later claim that on the night of the killing he and Davy Payne
Davy Payne
David "Davy" Payne was a senior Northern Irish loyalist and a high-ranking member of the Ulster Defence Association during the Troubles serving as brigadier of the North Belfast Brigade. He was second-in-command of the Shankill Road brigade of the Ulster Freedom Fighters , which was the "cover...
had led an assassination squad with the intention of killing a Catholic and that Wilson and Andrews had just been discovered by accident rather than being actual targets.
Following the Wilson killings White was interned for a while before being released again. He was arrested for the murders in 1978 and under interrogation confessed his guilt and expressed remorse. White was handed a life sentence for the double murder soon afterwards. Initially following his imprisonment White remained an important paramilitary figure and served as officer commanding of the UDA inside the Maze
Maze (HM Prison)
Her Majesty's Prison Maze was a prison in Northern Ireland that was used to house paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles from mid-1971 to mid-2000....
. He also studied with the Open University
Open University
The Open University is a distance learning and research university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom...
and gained a degree in Social sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
and criminology
Criminology
Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society...
.
Ulster Democratic Party
Upon his release in 1992, White joined the Ulster Democratic PartyUlster Democratic Party
The Ulster Democratic Party was a small loyalist political party in Northern Ireland. It was established in June 1981 as the Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party by the Ulster Defence Association to replace their New Ulster Political Research Group...
(UDP) and became a familiar face as the party worked with the Progressive Unionist Party
Progressive Unionist Party
The Progressive Unionist Party is a small unionist political party in Northern Ireland. It was formed from the Independent Unionist Group operating in the Shankill area of Belfast, becoming the PUP in 1979...
to help broker a loyalist ceasefire. Indeed when the statement of ceasefire from the Combined Loyalist Military Command
Combined Loyalist Military Command
The Combined Loyalist Military Command was an umbrella body for loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland set up in the early 1990s, recalling the earlier Ulster Army Council and Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee....
was read by Gusty Spence
Gusty Spence
Augustus Andrew "Gusty" Spence was a leader of the Ulster Volunteer Force and a leading loyalist politician. One of the first UVF members to be convicted of murder, Spence was a senior figure in the organisation for over a decade but later renounced violence and joined the Progressive Unionist...
at Fernhill House in October 1994 White was one of the UDP delegates sitting alongside Spence. Initially a strong supporter of the Belfast Agreement
Belfast Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement or Belfast Agreement , sometimes called the Stormont Agreement, was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process...
, White was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum
Northern Ireland Forum
The Northern Ireland Forum was a body set up in 1996 as part of a process of negotiations that eventually led to the Belfast Agreement in 1998....
talks body in 1995, although he (along with the UDP as a whole) failed to gain a seat in the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
. According to Sammy Duddy
Sammy Duddy
Evan Abbott Samuel Duddy , known as Sammy, was a Northern Irish loyalist, having joined the Ulster Defence Association shortly after its formation in 1971...
White's failure to get elected was inevitable as the savage nature of his earlier double murder had sickened even many loyalists and as a result there was a reluctance to vote for White. However White was a high profile figure in the developing tendency of loyalist politics and on 22 July 1996 he was even part of a four man delegation, along with Gary McMichael
Gary McMichael
Gary McMichael is the son of former Ulster Defence Association leader John McMichael and was the leader of the now defunct Ulster Democratic Party during the peace process....
, David Ervine
David Ervine
David Ervine was a Northern Irish politician and the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party .-Biography:...
and Hugh Smyth
Hugh Smyth
Cllr Hugh Smyth is a former leader of the Progressive Unionist Party. He is a long-serving member of Belfast City Council and former Lord Mayor of Belfast. He is also the longest-serving member of the council, having represented the Upper Shankill areas since 1973...
, to meet Prime Minister John Major
John Major
Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
at 10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street, colloquially known in the United Kingdom as "Number 10", is the headquarters of Her Majesty's Government and the official residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury, who is now always the Prime Minister....
.
Given his background within loyalism, White became the closest UDP member to Johnny Adair
Johnny Adair
Jonathan Adair, better known as Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair is the former leader of the "C Company", 2nd Battalion Shankill Road, West Belfast Brigade of the "Ulster Freedom Fighters" . This was a cover name used by the Ulster Defence Association , an Ulster loyalist paramilitary organisation...
and began to work closely with the 'C' Company commander, much to the concern of many of his fellow UDP politicians, who saw Adair as a destabilising influence, especially in relations with the Ulster Volunteer Force
Ulster Volunteer Force
The Ulster Volunteer Force is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in late 1965 or early 1966 and named after the Ulster Volunteer Force of 1913. The group's volunteers undertook an armed campaign of almost thirty years during The Troubles...
(UVF). At this point White remained committed to the Northern Ireland peace process
Northern Ireland peace process
The peace process, when discussing the history of Northern Ireland, is often considered to cover the events leading up to the 1994 Provisional Irish Republican Army ceasefire, the end of most of the violence of the Troubles, the Belfast Agreement, and subsequent political developments.-Towards a...
and when word came out from the Maze that the incarcerated Adair was wavering in his support of peace White accompanied Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, informally the Northern Ireland Secretary, is the principal secretary of state in the government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State is a Minister of the Crown who is accountable to the Parliament of...
Mo Mowlam
Mo Mowlam
Marjorie "Mo" Mowlam was a British Labour Party politician. She was the Member of Parliament for Redcar from 1987 to 2001 and served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.Mowlam's time as Northern...
into the jail on 9 January 1998 to meet with Adair and other leading UDA prisoners to discuss their grievances. White and Adair had in fact been near neighbours during Adair's childhood, with both of their families living on the Old Lodge Road, although with thirteen years between them they only vaguely knew each other
White, who had long been a public exponent of decommissioning accompanied Adair to meet General John de Chastelain
John de Chastelain
Alfred John Gardyne Drummond de Chastelain is a retired Canadian soldier and diplomat.De Chastelain was born in Romania and educated in England and in Scotland before his family immigrated to Canada in 1954...
of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning
Independent International Commission on Decommissioning
The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning was established to oversee the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons in Northern Ireland, as part of the peace process.-Legislation and organisation:...
on 10 December 1999, with leading UDA members John Gregg
John Gregg (UDA)
John Gregg was a senior member of the UDA/UFF loyalist organisation in Northern Ireland. From the 1990s until his shooting death by rival associates, he served as brigadier of its South East Antrim Brigade...
, Jackie McDonald
Jackie McDonald
John "Jackie" McDonald is a senior Northern Irish loyalist and the incumbent Ulster Defence Association brigadier for South Belfast, having been promoted to the rank by former UDA commander Andy Tyrie in 1988, following John McMichael's killing by the Provisional IRA in December 1987...
and Winkie Dodds also in attendance. Although the meeting ended inconclusively White had convinced Adair that decommissioning could make his name and soon afterwards Adair called a meeting of the Inner Council at which he said the UDA should decommission every weapon it had. All the brigadiers rejected the move although Adair leaned on Jimbo Simpson
Jimbo Simpson
James "Jimbo" Simpson, also known as the Bacardi Brigadier, is a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary. He is most noted for his time as Brigadier of the North Belfast Ulster Defence Association...
and another unidentified brigadier so as when a vote was taken it was tied at three votes for and three against. After the others had left Adair recalled them to a second meeting at which he did not turn up but instead sent White to read a prepared statement. In this Adair attacked his fellow brigadiers for their lack of forward vision, particularly attacking North Antrim and Londonderry chief Billy McFarland
Billy McFarland
William "Billy" McFarland, also known as "the Mexican", is a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary. A leading figure in the Ulster Defence Association , he has served as head of the North Antrim and Londonderry Brigade of the group.-Early years:...
whom he denounced as a dinosaur. Jackie McDonald dismissed the whole plan as a scam by Adair, whom he believed wanted to make him self look good to the world's media in return for giving up a load of old and spent weapons and indeed around this time Adair had already opened a new line of contact with arms dealers in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
from whom he was procuring more sophisticated weapons for his main power base of C Company.
Adair's ally
As Johnny Adair moved closer towards the Loyalist Volunteer ForceLoyalist Volunteer Force
The Loyalist Volunteer Force is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed by Billy Wright in 1996 when he and the Portadown unit of the Ulster Volunteer Force's Mid-Ulster Brigade was stood down by the UVF leadership. He had been the commander of the Mid-Ulster Brigade. The...
(LVF) and a dissident position so too did White increasingly become associated with the renegade end of loyalism. In 1999 he strongly condemned the killing of Frankie Curry
Frankie Curry
Frankie Curry nicknamed "Pigface", was an Ulster loyalist who was involved with a number of paramilitary groups during his long career...
, an active dissident who originated the Red Hand Defenders
Red Hand Defenders
The Red Hand Defenders is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in 1998 by loyalists who opposed the Belfast Agreement and the loyalist ceasefires. Its members were drawn mostly from the Ulster Defence Association and Loyalist Volunteer Force...
covername, claiming "it's disgraceful that a man who dedicated his life to the loyalist cause should be cut down like this by people who call themselves loyalists". When Adair, who had also praised Curry, was released under the terms of the Belfast Agreement on 14 September 1999 White met him outside the prison gates and accompanied him back to the Shankill.
White meanwhile came under heavy police surveillance. As a result of what he claimed to be his success as a property dealer he had become considerably wealthy and rumours began to circulate that his wealth was actually derived from his involvement in the drugs trade. White's nickname "Coco" emerged at this time due to his alleged involvement with cocaine. Progressive Unionist Party
Progressive Unionist Party
The Progressive Unionist Party is a small unionist political party in Northern Ireland. It was formed from the Independent Unionist Group operating in the Shankill area of Belfast, becoming the PUP in 1979...
leader David Ervine would claim that he once heard White describe himself as a "patriotic drug dealer" whilst Jackie McDonald
Jackie McDonald
John "Jackie" McDonald is a senior Northern Irish loyalist and the incumbent Ulster Defence Association brigadier for South Belfast, having been promoted to the rank by former UDA commander Andy Tyrie in 1988, following John McMichael's killing by the Provisional IRA in December 1987...
claims that he and Adair once left a UDA Inner Council meeting, only to return a few minutes later with white dust around their nostrils. Adair's some time girlfriend Jackie "Legs" Robinson also claimed that on one occasion she had been accompanied by White to Kelly's nightclub in Portrush
Portrush
Portrush is a small seaside resort town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, on the County Londonderry border. The main part of the old town, including the railway station as well as most hotels, restaurants and bars, is built on a mile–long peninsula, Ramore Head, pointing north-northwest....
and that as they travelled White took out a large bag of ecstasy tablets and gave her two. At no time was White ever prosecuted for any drug related crimes however.
On 19 August 2000 White read a brief statement at a "Loyalist Day of Culture" on the lower Shankill before Adair and other UDA members, wearing balaclavas, took the stage and fired machine guns. Later that same day a bitter loyalist feud
Loyalist feud
A loyalist feud refers to any of the sporadic feuds which have erupted almost routinely between Northern Ireland's various loyalist paramilitary groups since they were founded shortly before and after the religious/political conflict known as The Troubles broke out in the late 1960s...
broke out between Adair's men and the local UVF, who hated Adair's LVF allies. White's office in the mid-Shankill was blown up by the UVF as soon as the feud started and in order to underline his support for Adair White established his new office on Boundary Way, facing Adair's house. The feud fizzled out when Adair was imprisoned soon afterwards but White remained close and the following year was a regular at the Holy Cross dispute
Holy Cross dispute
The Holy Cross dispute occurred in 2001 and 2002 in the Ardoyne area of Belfast, Northern Ireland, and involved an escalating dispute between on the one hand the pupils and parents of Holy Cross R.C. Primary School and on the other the residents of a loyalist area that lay on the route to the front...
alongside Adair's brother James.
White was again on hand when Adair was released on 15 May 2002 and mad a speech in which he claimed that Adair would make " a positive contribution to the peace process". On Adair's behalf White even held a meeting with Sinn Fein
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
's Alex Maskey
Alex Maskey
Alex Maskey is an Irish politician who was the first member of Sinn Féin to serve as Belfast's Lord Mayor. He is Sinn Féin's longest sitting councillor and is currently an MLA for South Belfast as well as being a councillor for the Laganbank area of Belfast.-Early life:Maskey was educated at St...
to discuss peace strategies. The meeting was not sanctioned by the rest of the UDA and soon Adair was linking up with the LVF to target fellow brigadiers such as Jim Gray
Jim Gray (UDA member)
James "Jim" Gray, , was the East Belfast brigadier of the Ulster Defence Association in Northern Ireland, a loyalist paramilitary group. He was often nicknamed "Doris Day" for his flamboyant dress sense and dyed blond hair. Another media nickname for Gray was the "Brigadier of Bling"...
and John Gregg. In October 2002 both Adair and White were expelled from the UDA after a stormy meeting of the Inner Council. After Adair supporters killed Gregg in early 2003 Jackie McDonald launched an attack on Adair's lower Shankill stronghold and ran his supporters, including White, out of the area. They were put on the ferry to Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and ordered not to return. One of the main catalysts for the launch of the attack had been a television appearance by White the day before it happened in which he described himself as "indifferent" to the killing of Gregg, a figure widely respected in loyalism for having shot and wounded Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams is an Irish republican politician and Teachta Dála for the constituency of Louth. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he was an abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West. He is the president of Sinn Féin, the second largest political party in Northern...
in the 1980s.
White and the others were escorted to Larne
Larne
Larne is a substantial seaport and industrial market town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland with a population of 18,228 people in the 2001 Census. As of 2011, there are about 31,000 residents in the greater Larne area. It has been used as a seaport for over 1,000 years, and is...
by the police and immediately caught the ferry to Cairnryan
Cairnryan
Cairnryan is a small Scottish village in Dumfries and Galloway on the eastern shore of Loch Ryan. The village has been of vital importance in maritime history.-Ferry Port:...
. White arrived in the company of "Fat" Jackie Thompson and the two were detained for a while by Special Branch
Special Branch
Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security in British and Commonwealth police forces, as well as in the Royal Thai Police...
officers attached to Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary
Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary
Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for the council area of Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland.The police force was formed in 1948 as an amalgamation of the police forces of Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire, and Wigtownshire, and preceded the creation of...
. In the immediate aftermath he told the press "I will return". However White, whose precise whereabouts are still unclear, stated soon afterwards that he was done with the UDA and loyalism in general. He was also reported as having become a born-again Christian. A 2003 Panorama
Panorama (TV series)
Panorama is a BBC Television current affairs documentary programme, which was first broadcast in 1953, and is the longest-running public affairs television programme in the world. Panorama has been presented by many well known BBC presenters, including Richard Dimbleby, Robin Day, David Dimbleby...
programme stated White was living in the Salford area of Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
.