Darkley killings

In the months before the Darkley killings, several Catholic civilians were killed by loyalists. On 29 October 1983, a Catholic civilian member of the Workers' Party, David Nocher (26), was shot dead in Belfast. On 8 November, Catholic civilian Adrian Carroll (24) was shot dead in Armagh, UDR personnel were later convicted but the convictions were cleared on appeal for three of them (see UDR Four case). Carroll was the brother of an INLA member who was killed a year earlier. These attacks were claimed by the "Protestant Action Force" (PAF), a cover name used mostly by members of the Ulster Volunteer Force. It is believed the Darkley killings were primarily a retaliation for the killing of…