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Lindsay Robb (1967 – 31 December 2005) was a Northern Irish loyalist activist who was a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP). A native of Lurgan, County Armagh, Robb was a leading member of the PUP until 1995 when he was convicted of smuggling guns. Having been the main witness in the trial of a leading Provisional Irish Republican Army member in the early 1990s he subsequently made a number of allegations about collusion between the British security forces and the loyalist paramilitaries. Robb would later die in violent circumstances. ==Ulster Volunteer Force== Robb, who was working as a graphic designer at the time, made the headlines, albeit without his name being revealed, in 1993 when he gave evidence at the trial of Colin Duffy, who was charged with the murder of Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) soldier John Lyness.〔(The three cases that propelled Rosemary Nelson into the spotlight )〕 Robb's evidence helped to ensure a guilty verdict for Duffy, who was handed a life sentence.〔 Robb had provided the evidence anonymously and appeared in court behind a curtain during the trial.〔(Republican guilty of Army murders )〕 Robb was identified only as "Witness C" during the trial.〔Julia Hall, ''To Serve Without Favor: Policing, Human Rights, and Accountability in Northern Ireland'', Human Rights Watch, 1997, p. 169〕 However Robb first came to prominence with the PUP, serving as a member of their negotiations team during the early stages of the Northern Ireland peace process.〔(Ex-paramilitary stabbed to death )〕 Along with Jackie Mahood, the commander of the UVF in north Belfast, Robb was one of two members of the PUP/UVF talks delegation seen as being close to UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade commander Billy Wright who at the time was regarded as one of the main "hawks" within the UVF leadership.〔Ed Moloney, ''Voices From the grave: Two Men's War In Ireland'', Faber & Faber, 2011, pp. 459-460〕 A rumour even circulated at the time that Robb, acting under orders from Wright, had been passing on details of the PUP's meetings to Ian Paisley in an attempt to damage UVF cohesion.〔Moloney, ''Voices from the Grave'', p. 460〕 Nonetheless both Robb and Mahood were present at Stormont Castle during the first round of talks with British government representatives soon after the loyalist ceasefire.〔Jim Cusack & Henry McDonald, ''UVF'', Poolbeg, 1997, p. 324〕 Robb was arrested in Scotland soon after the Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC) ceasefire for his role in the smuggling of weapons for the UVF. During the subsequent trial the court was told that Robb lead a double life, combining his political activism with a role as a travelling fundraiser for the UVF around Scottish pubs and Orange halls.〔(Former loyalist gunrunner stabbed to death outside Glasgow shops )〕 From his base in the "Tam Bain" pub in Laurieston, Falkirk, Robb had recruited a gang of supporters to help him smuggle arms into Northern Ireland.〔(Loyalist Gun Smuggler Stabbed to Death )〕 Robb had visited Liverpool where he purchased guns, but was followed by police who eventually stopped Robb and arrested him in Airdrie.〔 The PUP initially claimed that Robb had been set up as part of a sting operation by the intelligence services, although the arrest and subsequently trial of a member of their talks delegation proved embarrassing for the party.〔Cusack & McDonald, ''UVF'', p. 333〕 Robb and Billy Wright, who was in custody at the same time, were described as "loyalist hostages" in an article in UVF magazine ''Combat'' published at that time.〔 In 1995 he was sentenced by a Glasgow court to ten years imprisonment for his role in the gun-running.〔 Initially serving his sentence in Scotland, where he had been tried, Robb was eventually transferred to HMP Maghaberry where he left the UVF and declared his allegiance to the breakaway Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) which had been founded by Wright after he and his Portadown unit had been stood down by the UVF Brigade Staff on 2 August 1996.〔 He changed in his physical appearance from being conservative and clean-cut to "someone who looked like a shaven-headed, muscle-bound thug".〔 According to the ''Daily Record'' during his spells in HMP Perth and HMP Barlinnie Robb established himself as one of the main drug dealers in both prisons.〔 Robb's conviction was used by Colin Duffy's lawyer Rosemary Nelson to get her client's life sentence overturned, with the evidence provided by Robb ruled to be unreliable.〔 Nelson argued that Robb had been dishonest and therefore unreliable as he had consistently denied any knowledge of the UVF and yet had been under surveillance by the security forces for some time for his work on behalf of that organisation in Scotland where he had settled after the Duffy trial.〔''The Rosemary Nelson Inquiry Report'', The Stationery Office, 2011, p. 39〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lindsay Robb」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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