"
Following his death, an "Ulster Freedom Fighters" (UFF) statement described McCreery as an "enemy of Ulster" and accused him of being a leading figure within the illegal drugs trade.
[14] No convictions were ever made for McCreery's killing although his relatives and supporters within the East Belfast UDA blamed Geordie Legge, another leading figure in the east of the city and a major internal rival of McCreery. In 1997 Leonard McCreery, Ned's brother, attacked Legge with a knife, inflicting grievous wounds on Legge. Despite clinically dying twice on his way to the hospital, Legge survived the attack and Leonard McCreery was sentenced to eleven years in prison for attempted murder.
[15] Legge, who is described by Ian S. Wood as having served as brigadier of East Belfast, eventually fell foul of McCreery's ultimate successor
Jim Gray and was violently killed in Gray's "Bunch of Grapes" pub in January 2001.
[16] Gray was also believed to have issued the order to kill McCreery.
[11]
Leonard McCreery's son Leon also became active in the UDA but in 1999 fled Belfast after being attacked by rivals from the group. In the course of the knife attack he sustained wounds that required 63 stitches and 17 staples.
[15] Leon McCreery settled in
Stockport where he would later come to prominence as the head steward for the far-right
English Defence League.
[15]
References
