William "Winkie" Dodds was born on 7 May 1959 and is a Northern Irish loyalist activist.
16 Facts About Winkie Dodds
1.
2.
Winkie Dodds was a leading member of the West Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Defence Association and for a number of years a close ally of Johnny Adair.
3.
Winkie Dodds became active in the UDA before Adair and in the early 1980s he was given a six-year prison sentence for a post office robbery.
4.
Winkie Dodds took his old friends Adair and Mo Courtney under his wing and trained them in preparation for including them in murder squads.
5.
Winkie Dodds had chosen his name from a security forces list supplied to him by infiltrated Intelligence agent Brian Nelson.
6.
Winkie Dodds was released soon afterwards and, although his place had now been firmly taken by Adair, the two remained good friends and Winkie Dodds continued in C Company.
7.
On 16 May 1994 Winkie Dodds was one of around twenty leading figures in C Company arrested as part of a police operation against the group.
8.
Winkie Dodds was released without charge but Adair was sent down and Winkie Dodds was chosen to serve as West Belfast brigadier during his incarceration.
9.
Winkie Dodds however continued to take his orders from Adair despite the latter's imprisonment.
10.
Winkie Dodds helped to organise Adair's prison wedding in February 1997 as Winkie Dodds' wife Maureen was a close friend of Gina Crossan, Adair's long-time partner whom he married inside the Maze.
11.
Stephen McKeag however largely ignored the ceasefire and continued killing until Winkie Dodds brought him into UDA headquarters and demanded an explanation.
12.
Winkie Dodds remained a leading figure in West Belfast and was still a close comrade of Adair.
13.
Adair initiated a loyalist feud with the Ulster Volunteer Force on 19 August 2000 and Winkie Dodds took a leading role in the brief but bloody conflict that followed, relaying orders to A Company in Highfield that the estate should be "cleansed" of UVF members.
14.
However Adair was arrested on 22 August 2000 whilst he and Winkie Dodds were driving down the Shankill Road.
15.
Winkie's brother Milton "Doddsy" Dodds met some Adair's men in a bar and asked them why the brigadier had treated his brother so badly but Donald Hodgen punched him and later that night Adair's ally Fat Jackie Thompson led a punishment squad to Doddsy's house where he was beaten with baseball bats.
16.
When Gregg was killed by Adair's allies Winkie Dodds attended the funeral.