The sectarian double murder of SDLP co-founder Paddy Wilson and Irene Andrews by the UFF highlighted loyalist paramilitary violence during the Troubles.
Key Facts
- Date of killings
- Night of 25/26 June 1973
- Wounds inflicted on Wilson
- 30 stab and hack wounds, throat cut
- Wounds inflicted on Andrews
- 20 knife wounds
- Perpetrator organisation
- Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF/UDA)
- Convicted killer
- John White, sentenced to life imprisonment in 1978
- Wilson's role
- Co-founder and General Secretary of the SDLP
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The killings arose from sectarian loyalist violence during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The Ulster Freedom Fighters, a cover name for the Ulster Defence Association, targeted Paddy Wilson in a sectarian attack, likely motivated by his prominent role as a Roman Catholic politician and co-founder of the SDLP.
On the night of 25/26 June 1973, UFF members led by John White hacked and stabbed SDLP Senator Paddy Wilson and his Protestant companion Irene Andrews to death. Their mutilated bodies were found beside Wilson's car in a quarry off the Hightown Road near Cavehill in Belfast.
John White was convicted of the double murder in 1978 and sentenced to life imprisonment. The case remained controversial, as White alleged that senior UDA figure Davy Payne played a major role in the attack but was never charged. The killings underscored the deadly reach of loyalist paramilitaries against political figures during the Troubles.