Gerard Davison

Gerard “Jock” Davison (* 1967 or 1968 ; † May 5, 2015 in Belfast ) was a Northern Irish paramilitary and community worker .

Life

Career

Davison came from a family that had a long association with the IRA and the PIRA . In the 1980s, Davison himself was one of the highest members of the PIRA in Belfast. He is believed to have led a subgroup called Direct Action Against Drugs , which is believed to have killed more than a dozen drug dealers in Belfast. With this task Davison should be built up for a leadership role within the PIRA. Davison supported the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process in Northern Ireland.

In 2005 Davison came back into the public eye in connection with the murder of Robert McCartney. Robert McCartney was stabbed to death in a street pub after an argument. Davison was one of three PIRA members and one of seven Sinn Féin members who were present at the dispute and the subsequent murder. Sinn Féin condemned the act and expelled the party members present in the dispute, just as the PIRA expelled its members from the organization. Police arrested Davison in connection with the murder, but no charges were ultimately brought against him. The PIRA offered to kill the culprits for the crime, but the victim's sister accused the group, on the contrary, of intimidating witnesses. She accused Davison in the Wall of Silence book of commissioning her brother's murder. Davison is said to have run a hand down his throat, causing the murder. He is also said to have monitored a group of PIRA members called after the incident as well as Sinn Fein members in the process of cleaning the area around the crime in such a way that no traces of the crime that could be used by the police could be found. The family members of the murder victim met with both the British Prime Minister and the American President to raise awareness for their campaign for justice in this murder case. Davison protested against this charge of murder. Davison's uncle Terence Davison was tried along with two other men for the murder of Robert McCartney in 2008 after witnesses came forward, but the trial resulted in an acquittal for all three men. The murder remains unsolved.

Davison is said to have had no obvious job that would provide him with an income at the time of McCartney's murder, but it is also said to have owned several houses in Belfast and Killough , County Down . At the time of his death, he was working in a community office in his Markets neighborhood in Belfast.

death

Gerard Davison was killed with four aimed shots in the head on May 5, 2015 at 9:15 a.m. on the way to his place of work on the street. The police described the motive for the act as unclear. A relationship with Protestant unionist circles was initially ruled out, even though Davison's uncle Brendan was murdered by the UVF in 1988 and Gerard Davison is the highest-ranking former IRA member in Belfast to have been killed since the Good Friday Agreement . A Makarov type pistol, which is very unusual in crimes in Northern Ireland, has been identified as the murder weapon . The police use this information and a description of the person to look for the perpetrator.

Further development

It was initially not assumed that the PIRA would conduct its own investigation into the death, but as the police made no progress on the case, they eventually set up a commission of inquiry. The description of the perpetrator matched Kevin McGuigan. McGuigan was a close confidante of Davison's at PIRA for a while, but the two fell out. As a result of the dispute, McGuigan was shot in the feet, knees, hands and arms by his former PIRA comrades. For this act, which he regarded as unfair advantage Davison, he allegedly swore revenge on him. After Davison's murder, he was shadowed by the PIRA. Police warned McGuigan several times that his life was in danger, but McGuigan had his lawyer spread statements that he was innocent in Davison's murder and stayed in Belfast. There was heated debate within the PIRA in Belfast over McGuigan's involvement in the murder and there were concerns that a return of armed fighters would jeopardize the peace process. The decisive turning point in the discussion is said to have been the report of a surveillance team who informed a high-ranking former PIRA commander in Belfast that they had seen McGuigan at Davison's house. The commander and friend of Davisons then convinced other PIRA leaders that if they did not act, they would be the next victims. On August 12, 2015, Kevin McGuigan was shot dead by two masked men in Belfast. After a few days, former members of the PIRA were held responsible for the murder of McGuigan from security circles and by Irish Republicans , who in turn were portrayed as revenge for the murder of Davison. A connection of the murder to the Direct Action Against Drugs group led by Davison is believed to be certain by the Police Service of Northern Ireland . The view that the murder was committed by members of the PIRA was upheld by the PSNI even after further investigations that the management level of the organization was directly involved, but was ruled out. On August 29, 2015, the unionist Ulster Unionist Party decided that it would leave the government in the Northern Ireland Assembly because the events had destroyed their trust in Sinn Féin, who insisted on the dissolution of the PIRA even against the statements of the police. The unionist Democratic Unionist Party , which is also involved in the government, demanded the expulsion of Sinn Féin from the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Belfast murder: Who was ex-IRA man 'Jock' Davison? at BBC News , May 5, 2015. Retrieved on May 27, 2015
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Sinn Féin fails to clear murky waters surrounding McCartney killing in: The Irish Times, July 4, 2005, accessed May 29, 2015
3. ↑ ^{a b} Henry McDonald Death of an assassin: how the killing of Kevin McGuigan reawakened Belfast's political strife , in: The Guardian, September 13, 2015, accessed September 13, 2015
4. ↑ ^{a b} 'Burden lifted' after murder of Gerard Jock Davison in: The Irish Times May 10, 2015, accessed May 29, 2015
5. ↑ ^{a b} Profile: Gerard 'Jock' Davison in: The Irish Times, May 5, 2015, accessed May 27, 2015
6. ↑ ^{a b} 'I'm no tout' says ex-IRA man Gerard 'Jock' Davison accused of ordering murder of Robert McCartney in: The Belfast Telegraph November 4, 2007, accessed May 27, 2015
7. ↑ ^{a b} Unusual gun used in Davison killing in: The Belfast Telegraph, May 26, 2015, accessed May 27, 2015
8. ↑ Police do not know motivation for murder of Gerard 'Jock' Davison in The Irish Times May 5, 2015, accessed May 27, 2015
9. ↑ Ex-IRA gunman shot dead in apparent revenge killing in: The Guardian, August 12, 2015, accessed August 19, 2015
10. ↑ Henry McDonald Call for IRA gunman Kevin McGuigan's murder inquiry to be taken off PSNI in: The Guardian, August 14, 2015, accessed August 19, 2015
11. ↑ Henry McDonald Is the Provisional IRA anti-drugs unit back in action? In: The Guardian, August 13, 2015, accessed August 19, 2015
12. ^ Henry McDonald Sinn Féin risks exclusion from NI assembly after suspected PIRA killing in: The Guardian, August 20, 2015, accessed August 21
13. ↑ PSNI: Provisional IRA leadership did not sanction Kevin McGuigan murder in: The Guardian, August 22, 2015, accessed August 23, 2015
14. ^ UUP decides to withdraw from Northern Ireland Executive. BBC News, August 30, 2015, accessed on August 30, 2015 (English): "[Sinn Féin's] position of denial over the existence of the IRA against the word of the chief constable makes it impossible to do business with them," he [Mike Nesbitt] went on.
    "We are walking out of the executive because we cannot sit with Sinn Féin because we do not trust them.
    "The challenge at this tipping point is to fix what's wrong and to return to the vision of [the Good Friday Agreement in] 1998." 
15. ^ Henry McDonald: Ulster Unionists vote to leave Northern Irish government. The Guardian, August 29, 2015, accessed August 30, 2015 .