1. William "Billy" Stobie was an Ulster Defence Association quartermaster and RUC Special Branch informer who was involved in the shootings of student Adam Lambert in 1987 and solicitor Pat Finucane in 1989.
11 Facts About William Stobie
1. 2.
William Stobie initially applied to join the Ulster Volunteer Force but was rejected by that organisation, which feared that he might be a government agent due to his time in the army, and instead rejoined the UDA, where he joined A Company of the UDA West Belfast Brigade in Highfield.
3.
William Stobie was a 19-year-old Protestant student with no criminal record or paramilitary links but was assumed to have been a Catholic.
4.
At the Stevens Enquiry, William Stobie admitted supplying the guns for the attack and driving Stephen Harbinson in the getaway car.
5.
William Stobie was rearrested on the Costa del Sol on separate charges of drug trafficking, kidnapping, and arms possession.
6.
William Stobie's informing did not go unnoticed and in May 1992 he narrowly avoided being killed by other members of the West Belfast Brigade who suspected he was a "tout".
7.
At the time William Stobie was operating the switchboard at Circle Taxis on the Shankill when their offices were raided by the police and the owners questioned about a taxi that had been ordered to the Glencairn estate.
8.
West Belfast brigadier Johnny Adair was told by a friend that William Stobie had told the police about the incident, and it was decided that he would be shot as an informer.
9.
William Stobie did not attend so Thompson and Hodgen drove up to his house and dragged him out.
10.
In 2001, William Stobie let it be known that he would be willing to testify at an inquiry into Finucane's killing, stating that he would not name loyalists but would name their RUC "handlers".
11.
On 12 December 2001, William Stobie was shot dead outside his home at Forthriver Road, Glencairn, Belfast.