Editing Ulster Defence Regiment (section)

==Paramilitary infiltration of the UDR==
Members of extremist groupings managed to join the UDR despite the vetting process. Their purpose in doing so was to obtain weapons, training and intelligence.<ref name="cain.ulst">{{cite web|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/publicrecords/1973/subversion_in_the_udr.htm |title=CAIN: Public Records: Subversion in the UDR |publisher=Cain.ulst.ac.uk |access-date=2013-07-17}}</ref> Several stolen weapons were used in the commission of [[sectarian]] killings, attempted killings and robberies.<ref name="Melaugh"/>

Vetting procedures were carried out jointly by Army Intelligence and the RUC's Special Branch and if no intelligence was found to suggest unsuitability individuals were passed for recruitment and would remain as soldiers until the commanding officer was provided with intelligence enabling him to remove soldiers with paramilitary links or sympathies.<ref name=subversion>[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/publicrecords/1973/subversion_in_the_udr.htm CAIN Archive:Public Records: Subversion in the UDR] Although initially written in 1973, the report was only opened to the public in 2004.</ref>

===Loyalist infiltration===
When the regiment was formed, the UDA did not yet exist;<ref name="Potter-p26" /> it would not be established until September 1971.<ref>Potter p82</ref> Dual membership was initially acceptable to the military authorities as the UDA was not seen as a threat to the state.<ref>Wood, 2006, p.107-8</ref><ref>Dillon, 1999, p.200</ref> This changed when on 29 November 1972, the GOCNI, on instructions from Westminster,<ref>http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/publicrecords/1972/prem15-1016-3.jpg, the document description in the Catalogue of [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]] is under [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATLN=6&CATID=8299702 Prem 15/1016]</ref> announced that dual membership of UDR and paramilitary organisations would not be tolerated and began a purge which saw 171 soldiers with links to the UDA discharged by the end of 1975.<ref name=":0" /> Lt Col Dion Beard (1RTR) commander of 3 UDR issued a battalion order:

{{blockquote|I will not tolerate any active participation by members of this battalion in any organisation which encourages violence... you cannot play in both teams. Either you believe in law and order applied equally to all men, or you believe in violence as a means of achieving political ends. In this respect the UDA is no better than IRA. Not only should you take no part in UDA activities but you should discourage your fellow citizens [from doing so].<ref name=autogenerated7>Potter p91</ref>}}

A similar statement was issued by the commanding officer of 11 UDR when Ian Paisley's [[Third Force (Northern Ireland)|Third Force]] was established in 1981. The media reported that he had issued a battalion order to the effect that any soldier who became involved in the Third Force would be dismissed.<ref>Potter p241</ref>

During the regiment's 22-year history, loyalist raids were mounted against 3 UDR, 5 UDR, 7 UDR, 10 UDR, and 11 UDR. Subsequent to a raid against 11 UDR's C company, [[Lurgan]] on 20 October 1972, the guard commander, Sgt. [[Billy Hanna]] [[Military Medal|MM]], was convicted of supplying arms and information to loyalist paramilitaries.<ref>Potter p90</ref> Most were recovered in follow up operations, but some were later proven to have been used by loyalist organisations to carry out crimes, including murders.<ref>Potter 2001, p. 293</ref> Most stolen weapons were taken by loyalist organisations, but a number of soldiers were killed by members of the IRA who attacked their homes to steal rifles.<ref name="Ryder-p73,75,77-80">Ryder pp73, 75, 77–80</ref> By the end of 1972, according to a Ministry of Defence in a parliamentary answer, 193 UDR weapons had been stolen, 130 in raids on armouries or points of duty. Only 76 stolen weapons had been recovered at that point.<ref>Ryder p179</ref> An August 1973 draft document prepared by British military intelligence asserted that the "vast majority" of UDR weapons stolen up to that point were in the possession of loyalist paramilitaries.<ref name="cain.ulst" />

An article on the newly established regiment published in ''[[Fortnight (magazine)|Fortnight]]'' magazine in October 1972 noted several court cases involving UDR soldiers in the preceding weeks.<ref name="fmoct5">''[[Fortnight Magazine]]'', No. 47, p. 4. Fortnight Publications, 1972.</ref> On 18 September a member of the UDR, William Wright, of Portadown, was granted bail after appearing on an arms charge at Hillsborough. Wright reportedly shouted "no surrender" as he left the court with two other men who had been similarly charged. The following day a former member of the UDR, John Haveron, was [[Remand (detention)|remanded]] in a Belfast court after being charged with the attempted murder of three men outside the Imperial Hotel on 17 September. On 23 September an instructor in the UDR, Peter Wally, was cleared of a murder charge but later received 18 months imprisonment on a charge of wounding with intent in relation to an incident at a taxi depot on 1 June. On 28 September two members of the UDR were charged with assault and possession of arms. Neither Private Robert Lawrence nor Private Reginald Jamieson were prosecuted. A day later another UDR member, Alexander Thompson, appeared before the same court on a charge of possession of arms and ammunition.<ref name="fmoct5"/> The author warned that the regiment was being increasingly perceived as an organisation similar to its “B-Specials” predecessor and it would “only take a few more charges similar to the ones outlined above to discredit the UDR completely”.<ref name="fmoct5"/>

In June 1973 loyalists bombed a pub in [[Crossgar]], County Down, injuring a young Catholic woman. Three men were later convicted and sentenced to nine years imprisonment; two of them were serving UDR soldiers.<ref>Ryder p174</ref>

In May 1974 a Catholic couple, James and Gertrude Devlin, were shot dead outside their home near Donaghmore, County Tyrone.<ref name="Sutton74">[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1974.html Sutton Chronology] [[CAIN]] website</ref> The UVF claimed responsibility and a UDR soldier was later sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders.<ref name="ST28J91">"Murder in the ranks: 17 soldiers convicted", ''Sunday Tribune'', 28 July 1991.</ref> The couple's daughter, who was also shot and injured in the attack, recalled a man in military uniform stopping their car before it was riddled with automatic gunfire. The Devlins were a prominent Catholic family in the area; James was involved in the [[Tyrone county football team]] and Gertrude was a popular librarian. Both were also active in the SDLP.<ref>Ryder p153</ref> The UDR soldier later convicted for the killings, William Leonard, was further convicted of a series of bombings targeting Catholics in the [[Dungannon]] area. A former UDR solder was also convicted. At a later trial Leonard was also convicted of holding up a bus from the Republic of Ireland, robbing a passenger, then dousing the bus in petrol and setting it alight.<ref>Ryder p154</ref> 

In November 1974 Catholic man Kevin Regan died five days after being shot during a UVF gun attack on Maguire's Bar in Larne, County Antrim.<ref name="Sutton74"/> A serving UDR soldier was later sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder.<ref name="ST28J91"/>

In February 1975 Catholic woman Colette Brown, a mother of four, was shot dead by Loyalists in Larne, County Antrim.<ref name="Sutton75">[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1975.html Sutton Chronology] [[CAIN]] website</ref> No specific group claimed responsibility. UDR Lance-Corporal Jack McAuley was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder.<ref name="ST28J91"/><ref>Ryder p155</ref>

Two soldiers from the 11 UDR's C Company (also UVF members) were convicted of the [[Miami Showband killings|1975 killing of three musicians]] from [[The Miami Showband]]. This attack was led by [[Robin Jackson]], a former UDR soldier who had been discharged for "undisclosed reasons".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-88079079|title=Uvf Rules out Jackal Link to Murder|date=30 June 2002|access-date=7 January 2019|archive-date=4 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404195804/https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-88079079/uvf-rules-out-jackal-link-to-murder|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="finucane">{{Cite web|url=http://www.patfinucanecentre.org/sarmagh/sarmagh.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426121606/http://www.patfinucanecentre.org/sarmagh/sarmagh.html|url-status=dead|title="Collusion in the South Armagh/Mid Ulster area in the mid-1970s". Pat Finucane Centre|archivedate=26 April 2011}}</ref><ref name="tiernan">[http://www.michael.donegan.care4free.net/sunday_independent021103.htm "Net is closing in on Dublin car bombers". ''Sunday Independent''. Joe Tiernan. 2 November 2003]. Retrieved 12 April 2012</ref> Two soldiers from 11 UDR's E Company, Portadown (also UVF members), died in the premature explosion of their own bomb.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/15/newsid_2534000/2534941.stm|title=1976: UDR men jailed for Showband killings|date=15 October 1976|via=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>

The Miami Showband killings were carried out by the [[Glenanne gang]]; a secret informal Loyalist alliance that included members of the UDR, RUC, and UVF. According to ''Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland'', by Anne Cadwallader, permutations of the group killed about 120 people – almost all of whom were Catholic civilians with no links to Irish republican paramilitaries.<ref>[http://patfinucanecentre.org/collusion/PFC%20Conclusions%20-%20Lethal%20Allies%20%28Oct%2023%29.pdf ''Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland'' – Conclusions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222181333/http://patfinucanecentre.org/collusion/PFC%20Conclusions%20-%20Lethal%20Allies%20%28Oct%2023%29.pdf |date=22 February 2014 }}, PatFinucaneCentre.org; accessed 21 November 2021.</ref> The Cassel Report investigated 76 killings attributed to the group and found evidence that UDR soldiers and RUC officers were involved in 74 of those.<ref>The Cassel Report (2006), p. 4</ref> Another key figure was [[Robert McConnell (loyalist)|Robert McConnell]], a serving corporal in 2 UDR. The report by Justice [[Henry Barron (judge)|Henry Barron]] into the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings which killed 33 people lists him as a suspect; UDR Captain John Irwin was identified by [[John Weir (loyalist)|John Weir]] in his affidavit as providing the explosives for the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.<ref>[http://www.seeingred.com/Copy/2.1_CODE_weiraff.html ''Seeing Red''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090619170035/http://www.seeingred.com/Copy/2.1_CODE_weiraff.html |date=19 June 2009 }}, John Weir affidavit, 3 February 1999; Retrieved 21 November 2021</ref> Former Glenanne Gang members named him as being involved in numerous other attacks, including the [[Reavey and O'Dowd killings]]. Several other UDR soldiers participated in terrorist attacks attributed to the Glenanne Gang.<ref>The Cassel Report (2006), p. 111-112</ref>

In October 1975 a UDR soldier from [[Islandmagee]], County Antrim, William Workman, was accused in court of being an active member of the UVF who had for two years instructed UVF members in the usage of firearms. In an alleged police statement Workman had admitted to being a member of the UVF.<ref>''Belfast Telegraph'', 22 October 1975.</ref>

In June 1976 a full-time UDR soldier, Richard Long, based at Carryduff, County Down, shot and killed a Protestant man, David Spratt when he fired several shots into the home of a Catholic man at Comber, County Down. Spratt was the brother-in-law of his intended victim. Long was later sentenced to life imprisonment, having resigned from the UDR as soon as he was arrested and charged.<ref>Ryder p157</ref>

In October 1976 UDR soldier Samuel Farrell from County Fermanagh was charged in the [[Special Criminal Court]] in Dublin with conspiracy and causing an explosion in relation to a loyalist car bomb attack at [[Pettigo]], County Donegal, in September 1973. Farrell admitted to acting as getaway driver on the night of the bombing.<ref>''Belfast Telegraph'', 21 October 1976.</ref>

In 1977, the Army investigated D and G companies of 10 UDR based at Girdwood Barracks, [[Belfast]]. The investigation concluded that 70 soldiers had "links" to the UVF. Following this two were dismissed on security grounds.<ref name="detail2011">[http://www.thedetail.tv/issues/20/udr-girdwood-story/british-army-covered-up-udr-units-links-to-uvf "British army 'covered up' UDR units links to UVF"]. ''The Detail'', 31 July 2011.</ref> 30 NCOs from D Company were suspected of fraudulently "siphoning off" between £30,000 – £47,000.  A large percentage of this was suspected of going to the UVF. It was also alleged that UVF members socialized with soldiers in their [[mess]].<ref name="detail2011"/> The investigation was halted after a senior UDR officer claimed it was harming morale.<ref name="detail2011"/> Details of the investigation were discovered in 2011.<ref name="detail2011"/>

In 1979 Benjamin Redfern was convicted of three sectarian murders in County Londonderry; Catholic farmer Liam Chivers near Ballymoney on 21 November 1972 and another Catholic man Joseph McAuley the following night, and John Bolton in October 1975.<ref name="ST28J91"/><ref>"Man now admits two killings", ''Belfast Telegraph'', 31 January 1979.</ref> Redfern was crushed to death in a [[refuse lorry]] while trying to escape the [[HM Prison Maze|Maze prison]] in August 1984. The killings were the work of a UDA cell of which several participants were also serving UDR soldiers.<ref>Ryder p151</ref> One member, Robert Davis, who had been a full-time member of 5 UDR, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of 71-year-old Samuel Millar. In January 1976, Davis and another UDR soldier, Ronald Nelson, went to Millar's Londonderry farm to persuade him not to give evidence against them in a case arising from the earlier armed robbery of £1,400 from a post office. When the elderly man refused to relent, Davis took an iron shaft from his car, used for killing foxes, and struck him on the head several times.<ref>Ryder p151</ref> Then he reversed his car over him, threw the body in the boot and buried it on the shore of [[Lough Neagh]]. However, a witness saw the burial and contacted the RUC's confidential telephone line. During the ensuing search by security forces Davis and another UDR soldier, both in uniform, exhumed Millar's body and travelled with the body propped up between them in the front of a military Land Rover and were waved through at least one checkpoint before weighting the body with a concrete post and dumping it in a flooded quarry. Ronald Nelson was jailed for ten years for his role in the armed robbery of 220 assorted weapons. including 148 L1A1 self-loading rifles, 35 Sterling SMGs and an L7A2 general purpose machine-gun, as well as 9,500 rounds of ammunition, eight grenades and a rocket from the armoury at the UDR base at [[Magherafelt]] in June 1975. The twelve-strong group of raiders transported the stolen weapons in two UDR vehicles. The RUC believed that the weapons, which were discovered at a farm, were discretely surrendered to redirect attention from the local UDA group which counted several of the local UDR soldiers among its members. Nelson was also convicted, with others, for his part in additional sectarian crimes including possessing firearms, car theft, armed robbery, arson and a petrol bomb attack on as Catholic-owned draper's shop which caused £162,000 worth of damage.<ref>Ryder p152</ref> The gang was also linked to the death of a man in a premature explosion on a farm in County Londonderry in the early 1970s.<ref>Ryder p151</ref>

In November 1979 full-time UDR soldier James Gordon Murdock was refused bail on charges of membership of the UVF. Police believed Murdock was "deeply involved" in the organisation and if he was released on bail he would regroup remnants of the Markethill-based UVF unit.<ref>''Belfast Telegraph'', 24 November 1979.</ref>

In June 1980 the UDA shot dead [[Irish nationalist]] politician [[John Turnley]] in Carnlough, County Antrim. A Protestant who came from a unionist background, Turnley had been a member of the SDLP before helping to found the [[Irish Independence Party]], which he later served as chairman. Three men were later convicted of his murder and that of Catholic man Rodney McCormick in Larne in August 1980. In 2016 it emerged that one of the three had been a member of the UDR.<ref>{{cite web|title=John Turnley remembered as 'brave' on fortieth anniversary of murder
|url=https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2020/06/04/news/john-turnley-remembered-as-brave-on-fortieth-anniversary-of-murder-1962163/|date=4 June 2020|access-date=3 November 2021}}</ref>

In November 1980 UDR Private David Jameson was charged with loaning his legally-held pistol to the UVF and also robbery and hijacking.<ref>''Belfast Telegraph'', 28 November 1980.</ref> Jameson was seriously injured in an IRA bomb attack in April 1991.<ref>''Fortnight'', Issue 301, pp. 10–19. Fortnight Publications, 1991.</ref> Jameson's brother, Richard Jameson, was a senior member of the UVF who was killed in a Loyalist feud in January 2000.<ref>[http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/uvf-suspect-linked-to-police-contract-13478051.html "UVF suspect linked to police contract". ''Belfast Telegraph''. Chris Thornton. 21 September 2007.] Retrieved 12 March 2021</ref>

In August 1981 a Catholic student, Liam Canning (19) was shot dead while walking along Alliance Avenue in the Ardoyne area of Belfast. The killing was initially claimed by the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), the UDA's cover name, but UDR soldier Brian Roberts was later convicted. Roberts had used his UDR-issue [[Carl Walther GmbH|Walther]] pistol. Roberts was also convicted of shooting and wounding two Catholic men in July 1981.<ref>"UDR man gets life for Ardoyne murder", ''Belfast Telegraph'', 11 January 1983.</ref>

During 1982 and 1983 a UVF cell operated from a base operated by 9 UDR in Ballymena, County Antrim. Security was so lax a local UVF commander had access to a bar inside the base for several months even though he had "known terrorist connections" and a firearms conviction.<ref name=":PAN1"/> Seven serving UDR soldiers of the Ballymena platoon were convicted of a range of terrorist offences in 1987,<ref name=":PAN1"/> including involvement in the murder of a Catholic man by "[[Shankill Butcher]]" [[Lennie Murphy]] in September 1982.<ref>"Ex-UDR Killer Gets 12 Years", ''Irish Independent'', 19 March 1987.</ref> The rest of the platoon claimed they never suspected any paramilitary infiltration despite them being on duty together regularly. A BBC ''[[Panorama (British TV programme)|Panorama]]'' documentary broadcast in 1990 alleged that an officer in the regiment said after the arrests "Ulster will one day be grateful to these men". The Panorama investigative team confirmed the remark with the soldier to whom it was made; the soldier was so appalled he reported the officer to his superiors but no action was taken.<ref name=":PAN1"/> The officer was still serving in the UDR at the time the documentary was broadcast.<ref name=":PAN1"/>

In December 1983 serving UDR soldier Private Geoffrey Edwards was charged with the murder of Sinn Féin election worker Peter Corrigan in Armagh in October 1982 and six other attempted murders. In all, he admitted nineteen terrorist offences, although he refused to name his UVF accomplices. In 1985 Edwards was sentenced to life in prison, with six concurrent twenty-year sentences for attempted murder.<ref name="GEU1">{{Cite book|last=O'Connell|first=Michael|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yweWDwAAQBAJ&dq=geoffrey+edwards+udr&pg=PT479|title=In Search of the Truth
|date=2017-05-31|publisher=Gill & Macmillan Ltd|isbn=978-1-7884-1013-7}}</ref>

In 1984 an arms haul of twenty-eight firearms that included several rifles, revolvers, and home-made submachineguns as well as 5,000 rounds of ammunition was uncovered on the County Antrim farm of a serving UDR soldier. In court it was alleged he was hiding the weaponry on behalf of a member of Ian Paisley's Third Force paramilitary group who had also been a member of the UDA and [[Tara (Northern Ireland)|Tara]]. Both men pleaded guilty to arms charges in 1987.<ref>"Arms "kept" for Third Force man", ''Irish Independent'', 7 March 1987.</ref>

In April 1985, the UFF/UDA claimed responsibility for shooting Catholic man Edward Love in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh. A serving UDR soldier and member of the regular British Army were later found guilty of murder and both men served thirteen years in prison before being released under the Belfast Agreement.<ref name=":IT2">{{cite news|title=First life sentence prisoners freed from Maze under Belfast Agreement |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/first-life-sentence-prisoners-freed-from-maze-under-belfast-agreement-1.194901|date=19 September 1998|access-date=3 November 2021}}</ref>

In August 1986 the IRA shot dead a UDR sergeant, Denis Taggart, in the Shankill area of Belfast. According to loyalist sources Taggart was a member of the UVF as was his brother, Michael Taggart. Michael was a taxi driver employed by a taxi firm owned by another UVF member, Jacki Mahood. The Taggart brothers' father, also a UDR soldier, worked for the UVF-linked firm as did two other men later described in court despositions as being linked to the UDR. Michael Taggart and UDA member Jackie Courtney used the taxi service to facilitate the theft of intelligence documents on republican suspects from Girdwood Barracks in North Belfast by a UDR soldier, Joanne Garvin. The files were leaked by a member of the British Army's [[Royal Scots]], Corporal Cameron Hastie. The stolen documents were used to plan the killing of Catholic man Terence McDaid in 1988. Hastie and Garvin were both later arrested, charged, and convicted in 1989, serving short prison sentences.<ref>''Sunday Tribune'', 5 November 1989.</ref> Garvin was expelled from the UDR while Hastie was permitted to rejoin the British Army and achieved the rank of major.<ref name=":IT2"/> 

In October 1986, four Catholic families, living in a housing estate in Ballymena, County Antrim, received threatening letters from the UDA, containing bullets, giving them a week to leave their homes. Three of the families fled the estate. The bullets had been supplied by a serving UDR soldier who was later imprisoned for two years.<ref>Ryder p177</ref>

In May 1987 loyalist paramilitaries murdered a Catholic charity worker, Dermot Hackett, near Drumquin, County Tyrone.<ref name="sc12">{{Cite book|last=Dillon|first=Martin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WBDJZ-KSrxsC&q=ulster+resistance|title=Stone Cold: The True Story of Michael Stone and the Milltown Massacre |publisher=Random House|year=2018|isbn=9781448185139}}</ref> Hackett had been subject to routine harassment and intimidation from members of the RUC and UDR following the killing of a UDR soldier in County Tyrone earlier that year. Hackett's killing was a joint enterprise between the UDA and [[Ulster Resistance]]; according to author [[Martin Dillon]] "there can be little doubt" that UDR soldiers had provided the intelligence for the attack. The Ulster Resistance-UDA plan was solidified after the IRA shot dead Charles Watson, a former UDR soldier and loyalist tied to Ulster Resistance and the UVF.<ref name="sc12"/> Another revenge attack took place the next day when an RUC officer fired several shots into a restaurant in [[Castlewellan, County Down]], with a Third Force armband on his person.<ref>''Irish Independent'', 26 May 1987</ref>

In January 1988 Loyalist paramilitaries shot dead Catholic businessman Jack Kielty (father of comedian [[Patrick Kielty]]) in Dundrum, County Down. A serving UDR soldier was suspected of involvement in the killing yet continued to serve in the Army, even after a RUC investigating officer requested that he be discharged.<ref name="INSD88">{{cite web|title=Wide-ranging ombudsman report considers links to other UVF murders
|url=https://www.irishnews.com/news/2016/06/20/news/jack-kielty-murder-suspect-served-in-the-udr-570080/|date=10 June 2016|access-date=21 November 2021}}</ref> Although he was eventually discharged a Police Ombudsman report released in 2016 revealed the suspect continued to attend RUC/UDR briefings despite being questioned by police in connection with the murder of Jack Kielty. The RUC also uncovered British army maps and a UDR photograph album containing montages of IRA suspects; fingerprints belonging to the soldier were later found to be on the recovered montage. An investigating officer said it became apparent at the time that the UDR soldier was the driver during an earlier attempt to murder another man, John O'Rourke, at Dundrum in January 1986.<ref name="INSD88"/> He was also arrested by police investigating the [[Loughinisland massacre]] in August 1994 and he was later identified in an anonymous message on the police confidential telephone line as one of the gunmen at Loughinisland. Solicitor Niall Murphy, who represented the families of the Loughinisland victims commented that "at least three individuals and their families directly associated with the UVF unit in south Down were members of the UDR and also had close family members working locally at RUC establishments and within the police force itself."<ref name="INSD88"/>

In November 1988 firearms, 5,500 rounds of ammunition, hand grenades, and bomb-making material were discovered at the home of a former UDR soldier in Armagh. The arms find was linked to the loyalist paramilitary group Ulster Resistance. Another arms cache including an [[RPG-7]] launcher with warheads, assault rifles, hand grenades, and 4,900 rounds of ammunition, also linked to Ulster Resistance, was found at the home of a UDR soldier in Richill, County Armagh.<ref>Ryder p178</ref>

In February 1989 solicitor [[Pat Finucane]] was murdered by Loyalist paramilitaries from the UDA acting in collusion with elements of the British security forces.<ref>"[https://madden-finucane.com/files/2016/01/2004-04-01_cory_report.pdf Cory Collusion Inquiry Report: Patrick Finucane]", p.107. 1 April 2004. Retrieved 21 November 2021.</ref> The 9mm Browning handgun used in the murder of Finucane had been stolen from a UDR armoury at Malone Barracks, Belfast by a serving UDR soldier. The same weapon had been linked to the attempted killing of a Catholic man in September 1988. Several other weapons were taken from the same armoury.<ref>{{cite web|title=Finucane accused held after year-long operation|url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/finucane-accused-held-after-year-long-operation-25949356.html|date=31 May 2003|access-date=21 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Finucane murder weapon revelation|url=https://www.anphoblacht.com/contents/7974|date=18 October 2001|access-date=21 November 2021}}</ref>

In August 1989 the UDA claimed responsibility for the murder of Catholic man Loughlin Maginn in County Down; it later emerged two of the UDA gunmen had also been serving UDR soldiers. When Maginn's family denied he was a member of the IRA, the UDA attempted to justify the murder by releasing a 20-minute video, shot by soldiers from the UDR, which showed the wall of a police briefing room covered with photographs of IRA suspects.<ref>{{cite news|title=Secrecy and Northern Ireland's Dirty War: the murder of Pat Finucane|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/secrecy-and-northern-ireland-s-dirty-war-the-murder-of-pat-finucane-1.2796750|date=19 September 2016|access-date=21 November 2021}}</ref> This incident prompted the [[Stevens Inquiries]] concerning alleged security forces collusion with loyalist paramilitaries. Twenty-eight UDR soldiers were arrested as part of the investigation.<ref name="c89">{{cite web|title=A Chronology of the Conflict – 1989|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch89.htm|publisher=CAIN|access-date=10 April 2008}}</ref> Twenty-six belonged to the same company of 7/10 UDR.<ref name="Potter-p329-33">Potter 2001, pp. 329–33</ref> Six were later awarded damages.<ref>{{cite web|title=Collusion – Chronology of Events in the Stevens Inquiries=|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/collusion/chron.htm|publisher=CAIN|access-date=12 April 2008}}</ref> One was charged with activities linked to loyalist paramilitaries. The Stephens team caused "intense anger" as three hundred police had been used to surround the homes of suspects. This had identified them as UDR soldiers to their neighbours, potentially putting their lives at risk. Eleven moved house as a result, while the homes of 18 others were provided with "additional security measures" at a cost of £25,000.<ref name="Potter-p329-33" />

In 1991 a former UDR soldier, Gordon David Stewart, from [[Portrush]], County Antrim, was charged with possessing information likely to be useful to terrorists. Police found seven sheets of paper with hundreds of names and addresses and also newspaper cuttings, in relation to persons of interest to the security forces. Stewart claimed that four of the sheets he had found hidden by a river while on UDR patrol the previous year and failed to inform any of his superior officers, while the rest were information he had copied from UDR intelligence. Stewart had served four years in the regular British Army and four in the UDR. Police suspected he was an associate of UDA members or possibly a member of the UDA.<ref>"Ex-UDR man on documents charge bailed", ''Belfast Telegraph'', 20 February 1991.</ref>

In December 1991, three serving UDR soldiers and a close associate were arrested and questioned for several days about the [[1991 Cappagh killings|murder of four men in a gun attack]] by the UVF in Cappagh, County Tyrone in March 1991 before being released without charge. The RUC and British Army examination of intelligence relating to several murders and attempted murders between 1988 and 1991 "highlighted concerns in relation to several members" of 8 UDR based in County Tyrone.<ref name=":1IN">{{cite web|title=The blood-soaked journey of R18837: How powerful gun smuggled into north by loyalists has been linked to up 12 murders|author=The Irish News|url=https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2021/03/08/news/the-blood-soaked-journey-of-r18837-how-powerful-gun-smuggled-into-north-by-loyalists-has-been-linked-to-up-12-murders-2246939/|date=31 October 2021|access-date=8 March 2021}}</ref> A [[Historical Enquiries Team]] (HET) report released by the [[Police Service of Northern Ireland]] (PSNI) claimed the UDR men "were also named as responsible for other murders". Minutes of a 2012 meeting between HET officials, Cappagh families and representatives of campaign group [[Relatives for Justice]] recorded that the HET believed there were "probably four or five cases where UDR soldiers are linked to killings".

Other members of the UDR were also questioned about the murder of Sinn Féin member Tommy Casey near Cookstown in October 1990, before being released without charge. An intelligence report indicated the murder was carried out by south Tyrone UVF and that three men named as being involved were UDR soldiers. The suspects were arrested along with two others, also in December 1991.<ref>{{cite news|title=Report reveals three UDR soldiers were questioned over Cappagh killings|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/report-reveals-three-udr-soldiers-were-questioned-over-cappagh-killings-1.4193096|date=5 March 2020|access-date=31 October 2021}}</ref>

In October 1992 a former UDR soldier, Rodney Davis, was alleged in court to have admitted copying names, address, and car number plates of republican suspects in south Down from his official UDR notebook and passing them to the UVF.<ref>"Man Guilty", ''Irish Independent'', 23 October 1992.</ref>

In 1999, David Jordan, a former UDR soldier, allegedly broke down in a bar and admitted to being part of a patrol that killed nationalist Councillor Patsy Kelly in 1974.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.courtsni.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/9AE0DC07-095C-4DEE-BB32-335224A38224/0/j_j_KERC5130.htm/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716081323/http://www.courtsni.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/9AE0DC07-095C-4DEE-BB32-335224A38224/0/j_j_KERC5130.htm/|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 July 2011|title=Judgment|date=16 July 2011}}</ref>

In January 2022, the Police Ombudsman published a report examining the RUC's handling of paramilitary attacks by the UDA/UFF between 1989 and 1993 in the north west of Northern Ireland which included 19 murders and multiple attempted murders. The report summarised that a "significant number of serving and former UDR members had links with loyalist paramilitaries" in the region and this included senior figures within the North West UDA/UFF. This overlap in membership gave loyalist paramilitaries access to weapons, training, intelligence, and uniforms which "added to their effectiveness in carrying out sectarian attacks." A leaked British military document that was posted to a local newspaper in 1992, claimed to have been sent by the UVF, contained the details of a number of republicans and also had the names of 28 UDR members named as being linked to loyalist paramilitaries. The Ombudsman's report was of the opinion that the RUC was not proactive enough in pursuing serving UDR members who were also actively involved in loyalist paramilitary violence; in one example two UDR soldiers linked to loyalist paramilitaries attended several security force briefings where they had access to sensitive information. The report found "no indications" that police investigated one of the soldiers links to the UDA/UFF despite RUC Special Branch's assessment that he had provided the intelligence for a murder in 1989. The other serving UDR soldier attended security force briefings at the same time as police were in possession of intelligence identifying him as having links to loyalist paramilitaries.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.policeombudsman.org/PONI/files/e0/e0cb934a-760f-4885-b423-b4fa40375aa4.pdf |title=INVESTIGATION INTO POLICE HANDLING OF CERTAIN LOYALIST PARAMILITARY MURDERS AND ATTEMPTED MURDERS IN THE NORTH WEST OF NORTHERN IRELAND DURING THE PERIOD 1989 TO 1993 |publisher=Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland|access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref>

===Republican infiltration===
On 5 December 1972 William Bogle of 6 UDR was ambushed and killed at [[Killeter]] near the Tyrone/Donegal border. It was alleged that he was targeted by a former member of his own company "possessed of strong republican views" who moved across the border after the killing and is not known to have returned to Northern Ireland.<ref name="Potter p77" />

===Measures against infiltration===
* '''The Bray reforms'''
Brigadier Michael Bray adopted a [[zero-tolerance]] policy for any activity related to loyalism from the beginning of his tenure as Commander UDR. He instituted a number of safeguards including monitoring of entire battalions and six-month security reviews of all UDR personnel.  An [[out of bounds]] list was compiled which included pubs and clubs known to be frequented by loyalist paramilitaries.<ref name=autogenerated2>Ryder 1991 p. 215</ref> Soldiers were cautioned as to whom they should socialise with.<ref name=autogenerated2 /> This was a concerted effort to remove anyone with dual membership from the regiment and to prevent [[peer pressure]] being applied.<ref>Ryder pp215–216</ref>
* '''The Stevens Enquiry'''
The [[Stevens Report]] resulted in a tightening of control on even the most low-rated intelligence documents and heightened accountability. For the first time the RUC were given access to UDR vetting procedures and many soldiers found themselves under police observation for extended periods of time, in some cases resulting in their discharge. Stevens agreed there had been collusion between a small number of UDR soldiers who had "gravely abused their positions of trust" but that the issue was not "widespread or institutionalised".<ref>[[The Independent]] ''Now it's time for Tony Blair to fulfil the promise he made to me'' 18 April 2003</ref>

===The 1973 "Subversion in the UDR" report===
A draft document, entitled ''Subversion in the UDR'', was amongst many released in 2005 and discovered in the [[Public Record Office]]. Some content appeared in ''[[The Irish News]]'' on 2 and 3 May 2006. Believed to have been prepared by British military intelligence in August 1973, it examines the issue of overlapping membership between the UDR and subversive organisations in the first three years of recruiting.<ref name=subversion /> ''[[Subversion]]'' was considered to be a "strong support for, or membership of, organisations whose aims are incompatible with those of the UDR" and attempts by soldiers to use their "knowledge, skills, or equipment to further the aims of such organisations." It speculated that "perhaps" 5–15% of UDR soldiers were, or had been, full members of "Protestant extremist groups". That the "best single source of weapons, and the only significant source of modern weapons, for these groups was the UDR" and that the British government knew UDR weapons were being used by loyalist paramilitaries, including the killing of a Catholic civilian and other attacks.<ref>2 May 2006 edition of the Irish News available [http://www.nuzhound.com/articles/irish_news/arts2006/may2_subversion_colluson_UDR.php here.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310213754/http://www.nuzhound.com/articles/irish_news/arts2006/may2_subversion_colluson_UDR.php |date=10 March 2007 }}</ref> The report admitted that there existed scarce intelligence on the full extent of infiltration of the UDR by loyalist paramilitaries:

{{Blockquote|We know comparatively little, from an intelligence point of view, of subversion in the UDR. Often what intelligence there is, is of a 'post facto' character. But despite our limited sources and the limited evidence available to us a fair number of UDR soldiers have been discovered to hold positions in the UDA/UVF. A number have been involved in overt terrorist acts. It is most unlikely that our intelligence coverage presents anything like the whole picture of infiltration of the UDR by the UDA and other groups, and there is no immediate prospect of it doing so.}}

The report illustrated how over 200 UDR weapons were lost or stolen by the end of 1972, although the rate of loss had decreased to 56 by 1973 when the report was written.  This was suggested to be partially due to increased security and also that "the reduced credibility of Protestant extremist groups in the eyes of the majority community, has made the subversion of UDR members more difficult."<ref name="cain.ulst" /> During 1973 the most successful loyalist extremist arms raids took place at the Department of Industrial and Forensic Science, and at firearms dealers in Belfast, Newtownards and Armagh, rather than on UDR locations.<ref name="cain.ulst" /> The report suggested there was no substantial threat of subversion from republican extremists in the regiment as the number of Catholics had decreased to under 4%.<ref name=subversion /> There were isolated incidents where Catholic UDR soldiers 'lost' weapons in suspicious circumstances, but "neither the number of weapons nor the threat is thought to be great".<ref name="cain.ulst" />

The report concluded that except in limited circumstances subversion in the UDR has not compromised its ability to carry out its duties. This was caveated with the caution that there were "predictable political circumstances" in which the UDR might not only experience a much "higher level" of subversion than at the time of the report, but in which "elements" of the UDR might "cease to be reliable."<ref name="cain.ulst" /> One such scenario considered was after the failure of political initiatives, unionist politicians might attempt to declare a [[unilateral declaration of independence]] for Northern Ireland to return power to the unionist community.<ref name="cain.ulst" />

===Criminal convictions===
18 UDR soldiers were convicted of murder and 11 for manslaughter.<ref>Ryder p150</ref> Between 1970 and 1985, 99 were convicted of assault, whilst others were convicted of armed robbery, weapons offences, bombing, intimidation and attacks on Catholics, kidnapping, and membership of the UVF.<ref name="Weitzer"/> Only a small proportion of the 40,000 individuals who served with the regiment<ref>Potter p383</ref> were convicted of criminal activities, but the proportion was higher than for the regular British Army or RUC.<ref name="Weitzer">Weitzer 1990, p. 208</ref>