Probe into UDA show of strength at Roselawn

Council ‘looking into’ how masked men were allowed to take part in crematorium service

BELFAST City Council is “looking into” how masked loyalists were allowed to put on a “show of strength” in its crematorium during a UDA man’s funeral.

Andrew ‘Andy’ Best (58) from north Belfast died on April 13. He had previously been a member of the UDA in Tigers Bay.

He was cremated at Roselawn following a funeral service on April 23. Six masked men in paramilitary garb carried his coffin, and floral tributes included one from the ‘North Belfast UDA’ naming him as a volunteer.

However, it was the presence of three masked men in front of Best’s coffin inside the crematorium that is now the subject of a council investigation.

Sinn Fein councillor Ronan Mclaughlin said he was left “shocked” by the display and had urged council officials to ask police to investigate.

Belfast City Council said it was aware of reports about the incident and was “currently looking into the circumstances around this funeral”.

BELFAST City Council is “looking into” how three masked loyalists were allowed to put on a “show of strength” inside the local authority’s crematorium during the funeral of a UDA man.

Andrew ‘Andy’ Best from the Limestone Road in north Belfast died on April 13, following a lengthy illness.

Best was a former member of the UDA’S 3rd Battalion based in Tigers Bay.

In the last years of his life, Best — who was well known in the Tigers Bay area — was in and out of hospital suffering from a chronic illness.

The 58-year-old was cremated at Roselawn following a funeral service at his Limestone Road home on April 23.

Six masked men in paramilitary uniforms carried his coffin, and floral tributes included one from the ‘Officers and members of the North Belfast UDA’ naming him as a volunteer “who’s (sic) service and sacrifice will never be forgotten”.

The North Belfast UPRG, the political wing of the UDA, also paid tribute, posting a message on the group’s Facebook page saying: “We the officers and members of the North Belfast UPRG wish to extend our deepest sympathies to the family of Andrew Best. Quis Separabit.”

Despite the paramilitary funeral, sources in Tigers Bay say Best was at one time subjected to a punishment attack from the organisation he had been a member of since his early 20s.

“He didn’t weigh in for a job, a serious one at that. He was court-martialed and punished, he hit the drink after that,” a senior source said.

Best was well known to police. In 2019, he narrowly avoided being sent to prison after being arrested in possession of a claw hammer and hunting knife.

At the time the court was told he was in breach of a previous suspended sentence.

Best told police he believed he was under threat at the time and had heard someone at the door and lifted the weapons to defend himself.

His solicitor told the court: “He thought he was under attack.”

He was sentenced to 12 months probation as a result of the incident.

In 2001, Best escaped a murder plot during a bloody feud between the UDA and UVF.

In 2019, a Special Branch informer and UVF commander who turned supergrass, Gary Haggarty, told his handlers during a debrief that Andy Best was to be shot dead on a date between June 2000 and January 2001.

Among the hundreds of charges Haggarty pleaded guilty to in order to reduce his sentence was one count of conspiring to murder the north Belfast man.

Senior UDA man Tommy English was shot by Mount Vernon UVF at his home in Newtownabbey on the outskirts of Belfast on October 31, 2000 as part of the feud.

The attempt on Best’s life was abandoned due to a heavy police presence in the area.

A funeral notice stated that Best was a father of seven with 26 grandchildren and that he died peacefully at home.

Several hundred people, including a number of prominent loyalists, attended his funeral, which included paramilitary trappings and a UDA ‘colour party’ of men in masks, berets bearing the insignia of the UDA and dark glasses.

His coffin was carried from his Limestone Road home by six masked men.

However, it was the presence of three masked men inside the crematorium that is now subject to a council investigation.

The men are pictured standing in front of Best’s coffin, their faces masked, wearing dark glasses and gloves.

Best’s cremation look place at

‘I’m shocked at display of masked men in paramilitary uniform taking place inside Belfast City Council’s crematorium’

1.30pm on April 23, with other grieving families in attendance at the Belfast City Council-run facility both before and after the paramilitary-style funeral.

Sinn Fein councillor Ronan Mclaughlin said: “I am shocked at this display of masked men in paramilitary uniform taking place inside Belfast City Council’s crematorium.

“I have contacted council officials and called on them to ask the police to immediately investigate this incident. Anyone with any information should bring it forward to the police.”

A spokesperson for the council said: “Belfast City Council is aware of reports relating to a funeral at Roselawn Crematorium on Tuesday, April 23.

“We are currently looking into the circumstances around this funeral and have no further comment to make at this time.”

The PSNI said they were unaware of the incident.