Mark Fulton (loyalist)
Encyclopedia
Mark "Swinger" Fulton was a Northern Irish loyalist
. He was the leader of the Loyalist Volunteer Force
(LVF), having taken over its command following the killing of the paramilitary organisation's founder, Billy Wright
, in the Maze Prison in 1997 by members of the Irish National Liberation Army
(INLA).
Fulton was alleged by journalist Susan McKay to have carried out a dozen sectarian killings in the 1990s. He also allegedly organised the killing of a Catholic lawyer, Rosemary Nelson
, in 1999 while he was out of prison on compassionate leave. In 2002, he was found hanged in his cell at Maghaberry Prison
, an apparent suicide. He was awaiting trial having been charged with conspiracy to murder a man from a rival loyalist paramilitary organisation. At the time of his death, Fulton was married with two children.
, County Armagh
in 1961, , one of the children of Jim "Swinger" Fulton, a former British soldier who worked as a window cleaner. His mother, Sylvia Prentice, came from a family of wealthy car dealers. Fulton grew up in the working-class Killycomain area. A childhood friend described Fulton as "a lovely, sweet wee boy". Following the outbreak of the Troubles
in the late 1960s, Fulton's father became a member of the Ulster Defence Association
(UDA). According to journalist Susan McKay, senior Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) members Robin "the Jackal" Jackson
and Harris Boyle
were frequent visitors to the Fulton home in the early 1970s. Jackson, one of the alleged leaders of the gang which carried out the 1974 Dublin car bombings
, became the commander of the UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade
in July 1975. Four days later, Boyle was blown up after placing a bomb on the Miami Showband's
minibus after the band was stopped at a bogus checkpoint by UVF gunmen. Jackson was also implicated in the attack.
mobile sweetshop on 28 March 1991, killing two teenaged girls and one man. The victims were all Catholic, and the attack was allegedly planned by Robin Jackson. In the early 1990s, Billy Wright
, also of Portadown, took over command of the UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade from Jackson. The Mid-Ulster Brigade, founded in 1972 by its first commander, Billy Hanna
, operated mainly in the Lurgan
and Portadown areas. Fulton soon became Wright's closest associate and right-hand man. Fulton idolised the charismatic Wright and had an "extreme fixation and obsession over him"; he even had an image of Wright tattooed over his heart.
Fulton was alleged to have perpetrated twelve sectarian killings in the 1990s, and reportedly was implicated in many other attacks. His victims were often questioned about their religion prior to their killings, and sometimes they were killed in front of their families. He was very violent and had a quick temper. Wright was the only person who was able to control him. An RUC detective who knew both of them said that whenever they were stopped by the police in the 1990s, Wright was "coolness personified", while Fulton would rage, shout and make threats.
Fulton was a follower of the Reverend Ian Paisley
and a member of his Free Presbyterian
church. In appearance Fulton was heavily tattooed and was known for his habit of always wearing a waistcoat.
The Mid-Ulster Brigade called themselves the "Brat Pack", which journalist Martin O'Hagan
of the Sunday World altered to "Rat Pack". After the nickname of "King Rat" was given to Wright by local Ulster Defence Association
(UDA) commander Robert John Kerr
as a form of pub bantering, O'Hagan took to describing Wright by that term. This soubriquet was thereafter used by the media much to Wright's fury. This led him to issue threats against O'Hagan and all journalists who worked for the newspaper. The unit initially welcomed the Combined Loyalist Military Command
ceasefire in October 1994; however, things were to change drastically over the next few years.
, the sometime South Befast brigadier of the Ulster Defence Association
who had become an ally of Wright during the Drumcree conflict
and had been expelled by the UDA at the same time Wright was removed from the UVF. After Wright defied a UVF order to leave Northern Ireland, he formed the breakaway Loyalist Volunteer Force
(LVF), taking the members of the officially-disbanded Portadown unit with him, including Fulton. Fulton acted as an adviser to Kerr during the emergence of the (LVF) as a separate group and told both Kerr and Wright that the LVF should seek a closer relationship with the UDA in order to more fully oppose the UVF.
Fulton, as Wright's deputy, assumed effective control of the LVF when Wright was sent to the Maze Prison in March 1997, and his relationship with Kerr, who had relocated to the LVF's Portadown stronghold, soon ended. Fulton, who continued to advocate a closer alliance with the UDA, reasoned that the group would be more prepared to co-operate with the LVF if their dissident former brigadier was not involved and so before long Fulton and his cousin Gary, also a leading LVF member, began to threaten Kerr, resulting in the Kerr family fleeing to England. Not long after this, on 13 May, Fulton was said by McPhilemy to have been responsible for the abduction and murder of 61 year-old civil servant and GAA official Séan Brown, who was kidnapped in Bellaghy
before being murdered in Randalstown
.
When Wright was shot dead by the INLA in December 1997, in a prison van while being taken to the Maze's visitor block, Fulton assumed control of the LVF. In the immediate aftermath he attempted to minimise local violence as youths sympathetic to Wright amassed on Portadown's loyalist estates preparing to riot in protest at the killing of their leader and local hero. Unlike Wright, Fulton had always been on good personal terms with UDA chief Johnny Adair
as the two had socialised together on and off since the early 1990s. The alliance was sealed soon afterwards when Mark and Gary Fulton arrived at the Maze prison to ostensibly to visit a friend but instead sat at Adair's table in the visiting room. Fulton, despite his friendship with Adair, was deeply affected by Wright's death. He reportedly spent many nights alone by his grave.
The LVF published a magazine called Leading the Way. The special 1998 edition, commemorating Billy Wright, was edited by and written almost exclusively by Fulton. In an article, "Have Faith", he advised loyalists to refuse the notion of extending the hand of friendship to "those who are genetically violent, inherent in the Catholic Church, a church as sly as a fox and vicious as a tiger". He cited historic examples of persecution of Protestants by Catholics to back up his ideas. In May 1998, the LVF called a ceasefire. It was accepted by the Northern Ireland Office
the following November.
. During the Drumcree standoff, Nelson had represented the Catholic residents at Portadown who opposed the Orange Order's march through the predominately nationalist
Garvaghy area. She was blown up by a car bomb on 15 March 1999 outside her home in Lurgan. The bomb was allegedly made by a man from the Belfast UDA but planted by Fulton's associates acting on his orders. Colin Port, the deputy chief of the Norfolk police who headed the investigation into her death, said "without question" Fulton was the person who had masterminded her killing. Although he was back in prison at the time, he was excited when he heard the news of her death on the radio. He was linked to the killing by police informers and not forensics. It was also revealed that prior to his own death, Wright had threatened to kill Nelson in the belief that she had defended IRA killers. Fulton was released from prison in April 2001.
At the time of his death, Fulton had been awaiting trial, having been charged with conspiracy to murder Rodney Jennett, a member of a rival loyalist paramilitary organisation, in connection with an ongoing feud. He was married and the father of two children.
He was interred in Kernan Cemetery in Portadown. Among the tributes to Fulton that were placed in the Belfast Telegraph was one which described Fulton as "Never selfish/Always kind". His successor in the LVF was Catholic-born loyalist Robin "Billy" King
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...
. He was the leader of the Loyalist Volunteer Force
Loyalist 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), having taken over its command following the killing of the paramilitary organisation's founder, Billy Wright
Billy Wright (loyalist)
William Stephen "Billy" Wright was a prominent Ulster loyalist during the period of violent religious/political conflict known as "The Troubles". He joined the Ulster Volunteer Force in 1975 and became commander of its Mid-Ulster Brigade in the early 1990s...
, in the Maze Prison in 1997 by members of the Irish National Liberation Army
Irish National Liberation Army
The Irish National Liberation Army or INLA is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group that was formed on 8 December 1974. Its goal is to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a socialist united Ireland....
(INLA).
Fulton was alleged by journalist Susan McKay to have carried out a dozen sectarian killings in the 1990s. He also allegedly organised the killing of a Catholic lawyer, Rosemary Nelson
Rosemary Nelson
Rosemary Nelson was a prominent Northern Irish human rights lawyer who was killed by a loyalist paramilitary group in 1999...
, in 1999 while he was out of prison on compassionate leave. In 2002, he was found hanged in his cell at Maghaberry Prison
Maghaberry (HM Prison)
HMP Maghaberry was built on the site of a World War II airfield near Lisburn, Northern Ireland that was used as a transit base for the United States Army Air Force....
, an apparent suicide. He was awaiting trial having been charged with conspiracy to murder a man from a rival loyalist paramilitary organisation. At the time of his death, Fulton was married with two children.
Early years
Mark Fulton was born in PortadownPortadown
Portadown is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about 23 miles south-west of Belfast...
, County Armagh
County Armagh
-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...
in 1961, , one of the children of Jim "Swinger" Fulton, a former British soldier who worked as a window cleaner. His mother, Sylvia Prentice, came from a family of wealthy car dealers. Fulton grew up in the working-class Killycomain area. A childhood friend described Fulton as "a lovely, sweet wee boy". Following 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...
in the late 1960s, Fulton's father became a member of 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). According to journalist Susan McKay, senior Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) members Robin "the Jackal" Jackson
Robin Jackson
Robert John "Robin" Jackson, known as the Jackal was a Northern Irish loyalist who held the rank of brigadier in the Ulster Volunteer Force during the period of violent religious and political conflict in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles.From his home in the small village of Donaghcloney,...
and Harris Boyle
Harris Boyle
Harris Boyle was a Ulster Defence Regiment soldier and a high-ranking member of the Ulster Volunteer Force , a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary organisation. Boyle was implicated in the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings which left a total of 33 people dead...
were frequent visitors to the Fulton home in the early 1970s. Jackson, one of the alleged leaders of the gang which carried out the 1974 Dublin car bombings
Dublin and Monaghan Bombings
The Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 17 May 1974 were a series of car bombings in Dublin and Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. The attacks killed 33 civilians and wounded almost 300 – the highest number of casualties in any single day during the conflict known as The Troubles.A loyalist...
, became the commander of the UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade
UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade
UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade formed part of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force in Northern Ireland. The brigade was established in Lurgan, County Armagh in 1972 by its first commander Billy Hanna. The unit operated mainly around the Lurgan and Portadown areas. Subsequent leaders of the...
in July 1975. Four days later, Boyle was blown up after placing a bomb on the Miami Showband's
Miami Showband killings
The Miami Showband killings was a paramilitary attack at Buskhill, County Down, Northern Ireland, in the early morning of 31 July 1975. It left five people dead at the hands of Ulster Volunteer Force gunmen, including three members of The Miami Showband...
minibus after the band was stopped at a bogus checkpoint by UVF gunmen. Jackson was also implicated in the attack.
Ulster Volunteer Force
Fulton left school early and promptly joined the Mid-Ulster UVF, being sworn in as a 15 year old. According to Sean McPhilemy, Fulton's early activity included being part of the UVF gang that opened fire on a CraigavonCraigavon
Craigavon is a settlement in north County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It was a planned settlement that was begun in 1965 and named after Northern Ireland's first Prime Minister — James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon. It was intended to be a linear city incorporating Lurgan and Portadown, but this plan...
mobile sweetshop on 28 March 1991, killing two teenaged girls and one man. The victims were all Catholic, and the attack was allegedly planned by Robin Jackson. In the early 1990s, Billy Wright
Billy Wright (loyalist)
William Stephen "Billy" Wright was a prominent Ulster loyalist during the period of violent religious/political conflict known as "The Troubles". He joined the Ulster Volunteer Force in 1975 and became commander of its Mid-Ulster Brigade in the early 1990s...
, also of Portadown, took over command of the UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade from Jackson. The Mid-Ulster Brigade, founded in 1972 by its first commander, Billy Hanna
Billy Hanna
William Henry Wilson "Billy" Hanna MM was a high-ranking Northern Irish loyalist who founded and led the Mid-Ulster Brigade of the Ulster Volunteer Force until he was killed, allegedly by Robin Jackson, who took over command of the brigade.According to RUC Special Patrol Group officer John Weir,...
, operated mainly in the Lurgan
Lurgan
Lurgan is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is near the southern shore of Lough Neagh and in the north-eastern corner of the county. Part of the Craigavon Borough Council area, Lurgan is about 18 miles south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway...
and Portadown areas. Fulton soon became Wright's closest associate and right-hand man. Fulton idolised the charismatic Wright and had an "extreme fixation and obsession over him"; he even had an image of Wright tattooed over his heart.
Fulton was alleged to have perpetrated twelve sectarian killings in the 1990s, and reportedly was implicated in many other attacks. His victims were often questioned about their religion prior to their killings, and sometimes they were killed in front of their families. He was very violent and had a quick temper. Wright was the only person who was able to control him. An RUC detective who knew both of them said that whenever they were stopped by the police in the 1990s, Wright was "coolness personified", while Fulton would rage, shout and make threats.
Fulton was a follower of the Reverend Ian Paisley
Ian Paisley
Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, PC is a politician and church minister in Northern Ireland. As the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party , he and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness were elected First Minister and deputy First Minister respectively on 8 May 2007.In addition to co-founding...
and a member of his Free Presbyterian
Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster
The Free Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian denomination founded by the Rev. Ian Paisley in 1951. Most of its members live in Northern Ireland...
church. In appearance Fulton was heavily tattooed and was known for his habit of always wearing a waistcoat.
The Mid-Ulster Brigade called themselves the "Brat Pack", which journalist Martin O'Hagan
Martin O'Hagan
Owen Martin O'Hagan, was an Irish investigative journalist from Lurgan, Northern Ireland. He was the most prominent journalist to be killed as a consequence of the Troubles and the only one to be specifically assassinated as a result of his work.-Life:Martin O'Hagan's father served in the British...
of the Sunday World altered to "Rat Pack". After the nickname of "King Rat" was given to Wright by local 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) commander Robert John Kerr
Robert John Kerr
Robert John "R. J." Kerr , was a leading Northern Irish loyalist. He served as the commander of the Portadown battalion of the Ulster Defence Association's Mid-Ulster Brigade. Along with the Mid-Ulster Ulster Volunteer Force's brigadier Robin Jackson, Kerr was implicated in the killing of Catholic...
as a form of pub bantering, O'Hagan took to describing Wright by that term. This soubriquet was thereafter used by the media much to Wright's fury. This led him to issue threats against O'Hagan and all journalists who worked for the newspaper. The unit initially welcomed 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....
ceasefire in October 1994; however, things were to change drastically over the next few years.
Loyalist Volunteer Force
Following the order given in August 1996 by the UVF's Brigade Staff (Belfast leadership) for Wright and the Portadown unit of the Mid-Ulster Brigade to stand down, Fulton remained loyal to Wright and defied the order. This came after the Mid-Ulster UVF's killing of a Catholic taxi driver, Michael McGoldrick, while the UVF were on ceasefire. Fulton was close to Alex KerrAlex Kerr (loyalist)
Alex Kerr is a Northern Irish former loyalist paramilitary. Kerr was a brigadier in the Ulster Defence Association before becoming one of the two founders of the Loyalist Volunteer Force . He is no longer active in loyalism....
, the sometime South Befast brigadier of 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"...
who had become an ally of Wright during the Drumcree conflict
Drumcree conflict
The Drumcree conflict or Drumcree standoff is an ongoing dispute over a yearly parade in the town of Portadown, Northern Ireland. The dispute is between the Orange Order and local residents. The residents are currently represented by the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition ; before 1995 they were...
and had been expelled by the UDA at the same time Wright was removed from the UVF. After Wright defied a UVF order to leave Northern Ireland, he formed the breakaway Loyalist Volunteer Force
Loyalist 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), taking the members of the officially-disbanded Portadown unit with him, including Fulton. Fulton acted as an adviser to Kerr during the emergence of the (LVF) as a separate group and told both Kerr and Wright that the LVF should seek a closer relationship with the UDA in order to more fully oppose the UVF.
Fulton, as Wright's deputy, assumed effective control of the LVF when Wright was sent to the Maze Prison in March 1997, and his relationship with Kerr, who had relocated to the LVF's Portadown stronghold, soon ended. Fulton, who continued to advocate a closer alliance with the UDA, reasoned that the group would be more prepared to co-operate with the LVF if their dissident former brigadier was not involved and so before long Fulton and his cousin Gary, also a leading LVF member, began to threaten Kerr, resulting in the Kerr family fleeing to England. Not long after this, on 13 May, Fulton was said by McPhilemy to have been responsible for the abduction and murder of 61 year-old civil servant and GAA official Séan Brown, who was kidnapped in Bellaghy
Bellaghy
Bellaghy , is a village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It lies north west of Lough Neagh and about 5 miles north of Magherafelt. At the centre of the village lies the junction of three main roads leading to Magherafelt, Portglenone and Toome. It had a population of 1,063 people in the...
before being murdered in Randalstown
Randalstown
Randalstown is a small town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, located between the towns of Antrim and Toome. It had a population of 4,956 people in the 2001 Census. It has a very prominent disused railway viaduct and lies beside Lough Neagh and the Shane's Castle estate...
.
When Wright was shot dead by the INLA in December 1997, in a prison van while being taken to the Maze's visitor block, Fulton assumed control of the LVF. In the immediate aftermath he attempted to minimise local violence as youths sympathetic to Wright amassed on Portadown's loyalist estates preparing to riot in protest at the killing of their leader and local hero. Unlike Wright, Fulton had always been on good personal terms with UDA chief 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...
as the two had socialised together on and off since the early 1990s. The alliance was sealed soon afterwards when Mark and Gary Fulton arrived at the Maze prison to ostensibly to visit a friend but instead sat at Adair's table in the visiting room. Fulton, despite his friendship with Adair, was deeply affected by Wright's death. He reportedly spent many nights alone by his grave.
The LVF published a magazine called Leading the Way. The special 1998 edition, commemorating Billy Wright, was edited by and written almost exclusively by Fulton. In an article, "Have Faith", he advised loyalists to refuse the notion of extending the hand of friendship to "those who are genetically violent, inherent in the Catholic Church, a church as sly as a fox and vicious as a tiger". He cited historic examples of persecution of Protestants by Catholics to back up his ideas. In May 1998, the LVF called a ceasefire. It was accepted by the Northern Ireland Office
Northern Ireland Office
The Northern Ireland Office is a United Kingdom government department responsible for Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and is based in Northern Ireland at Stormont House.-Role:...
the following November.
Rosemary Nelson killing
Fulton was arrested in 1998 after shooting at an off-duty soldier in Portadown. He was heavily intoxicated at the time and sentenced to four years imprisonment. While he was out on compassionate leave in early 1999, he allegedly organised the killing of Catholic human rights lawyer Rosemary NelsonRosemary Nelson
Rosemary Nelson was a prominent Northern Irish human rights lawyer who was killed by a loyalist paramilitary group in 1999...
. During the Drumcree standoff, Nelson had represented the Catholic residents at Portadown who opposed the Orange Order's march through the predominately nationalist
Irish 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...
Garvaghy area. She was blown up by a car bomb on 15 March 1999 outside her home in Lurgan. The bomb was allegedly made by a man from the Belfast UDA but planted by Fulton's associates acting on his orders. Colin Port, the deputy chief of the Norfolk police who headed the investigation into her death, said "without question" Fulton was the person who had masterminded her killing. Although he was back in prison at the time, he was excited when he heard the news of her death on the radio. He was linked to the killing by police informers and not forensics. It was also revealed that prior to his own death, Wright had threatened to kill Nelson in the belief that she had defended IRA killers. Fulton was released from prison in April 2001.
Death
On 10 June 2002 Fulton, who was being held on remand in HMP Maghaberry since December 2001, was found dead in his prison cell with a leather belt around his neck. Fulton was found on his bed rather than hanging from the ceiling leading to speculation that he has death had been accidentally caused by autoerotic asphyxiation. Friends however claimed that Fulton had expressed suicidal thoughts due to both his failure to recover from his close friend Wright's death as well as fears he had that he was suffering from stomach cancer. Indeed some reports even suggested that his unstable mental state had seen him stood down several weeks before his death, with the LVF's power base transferred to Belfast. He was also afraid that rival loyalist inmates wished to kill him inside the prison.At the time of his death, Fulton had been awaiting trial, having been charged with conspiracy to murder Rodney Jennett, a member of a rival loyalist paramilitary organisation, in connection with an ongoing feud. He was married and the father of two children.
He was interred in Kernan Cemetery in Portadown. Among the tributes to Fulton that were placed in the Belfast Telegraph was one which described Fulton as "Never selfish/Always kind". His successor in the LVF was Catholic-born loyalist Robin "Billy" King