James Craig (loyalist)

James Craig
James Craig
Born	James Pratt Craig 17 November 1941[1] Belfast, Northern Ireland
Died	15 October 1988(1988-10-15) (aged 46) Belfast, Northern Ireland
Cause of death	Multiple gunshot wounds
Nationality	British
Other names	Jim Craig
Known for	Ulster Defence Association (UDA) fund-raiser and Inner Council member Racketeer

James Pratt Craig (17 November 1941 – 15 October 1988) was a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary during The Troubles in Northern Ireland in the latter half of the 20th century, who was a member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), and a command member of its Inner Council.^[2] He also ran a criminal large-scale protection racket from the West Belfast Shankill Road area, where he resided. Described by journalist David McKittrick as "Belfast's foremost paramilitary extortionist",^[3] Craig allegedly colluded at times with the enemies of the UDA, Irish Republican groups such as the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), providing them with information on key loyalists which led to their subsequent murders.^[3] Aside from controlling rackets and extorting protection money from a variety of businesses, it was claimed that Craig also participated in paramilitary murders.^[3]

He was accused by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) of setting up the assassinations of some of their key members by IRA hit squads, such as Shankill Butcher members Lenny Murphy, John Bingham, and William "Frenchie" Marchant in the 1980s. Craig was himself killed by the UDA, using their cover name of the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), for alleged "treason" as it was believed he had passed information to the IRA regarding South Belfast UDA commander John McMichael, who was killed by an IRA booby-trap car bomb in December 1987. Craig was shot dead in The Castle Inn, a pub in Beersbridge Road, East Belfast.^[4]