Billy Wright who was shot dead at the top security Maze prison was Ulster's most feared loyalist paramilitary.

Nicknamed King Rat, Wright, from Portadown, County Armagh, is known to have survived at least six attempts on his life by the IRA.

The 37-year-old paramilitary had also been under threat of execution from loyalist gunmen.

Received death threats from loyalists and republicans

In August 1996 the Combined Loyalist Military Command, an umbrella group for several paramilitary factions ordered Wright to leave Ulster within 72 hours or face "summary justice".

He did not leave Northern Ireland after the death threat but survived.

Wright was seen by protestants as a dangerous 'loose cannon.'

He had been behind a loyalist rally in Drumcree in the same year and was believed to have encouraged protestant Orange Order marchers to use machinery to break down barriers erected by the authorities.

Wright was jailed for eight years in March this year for threatening to kill Gwen Reed during a punishment attack on her daughter's boyfriend in a field in Portadown in August 1995.

Wright was also found guilty of perverting the course of justice by threatening Gwen Reed's son.
 

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