21 Facts About Billy Giles

Billy Giles was an Ulster Volunteer Force volunteer who later became active in politics following his release from the Maze Prison in 1997 after serving 14 years of a life sentence for murder.

Billy Giles was born William Alexander Ellis Giles in Belfast, Northern Ireland on 3 September 1957, and grew up in Island Street, in loyalist east Belfast.

The Giles family was very religious, the Protestant church having been the centre of their lives.

Billy Giles often attended the rallies of Ian Paisley, and was strongly influenced by his sermons.

Billy Giles's father, a former soldier in the British Army, was a member of the Orange Order, The Royal Black Preceptory, and The Apprentice Boys of Derry.

At the outbreak of the republican hunger strike in 1981, Billy Giles had gradually become disassociated from the UVF.

Billy Giles mentally prepared himself to go to war against the IRA and therefore returned as an active member of the UVF.

On 19 November 1981 in Newtownards, Billy Giles abducted a Roman Catholic married man, Michael Fay, and shot him in the back of the head, killing him instantly.

Billy Giles then stuffed the body in the car's boot.

Billy Giles was arrested by the Royal Ulster Constabulary and brought to the Castlereagh interrogation centre, where he confessed to the killing.

Billy Giles was found guilty of the murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Maze Prison.

Billy Giles spent his time studying and took several GCSEs; he eventually obtained an Open University degree in Social Sciences.

Billy Giles wrote a play about his childhood in Island Street called Boy Girl.

Billy Giles gave many interviews to British journalist, Peter Taylor, to whom he confessed his deep remorse at the killing of Michael Fay, saying that he had "never felt like a whole person again" since the fatal shooting.

On two separate occasions, Billy Giles claimed he had saved the lives of prison officers inside the Maze: the first time when he stopped an inmate from cutting an officer's throat and the second time during a prison riot in March 1995 when he persuaded his inmates to stop the wrecking and to allow free passage to the block staff.

Billy Giles was released on 4 July 1997 after serving 14 years of his life sentence.

Billy Giles immediately commenced work with the Progressive Unionist Party known as PUP, and concentrated on helping released Loyalist prisoners to resettle into the community.

At the signing of the Good Friday Agreement on 10 April 1998 at Stormont, Billy Giles was part of PUP's negotiating team.

Billy Giles told Peter Taylor that he felt optimistic about the future of Northern Ireland and his own.

Billy Giles described Giles as lying in the coffin wearing his best suit, and his UVF badge with the inscribed words "For God and Ulster" was pinned to his lapel.

Billy Giles is commemorated, along with other prominent Loyalist paramilitaries, in the controversial UVF song Battalion of the Dead.