James Mitchell

James Mitchell (1920 – May 2008) was an Ulster loyalist and Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) Reserve officer who provided a base and storage depot for the Glenanne gang at his farm at Glenanne, near Mountnorris, County Armagh, during the Troubles. The gang, which contained over 40 known members, included soldiers of the British Army's Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), officers of the RUC, the Mid-Ulster Brigade of the illegal paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and some Ulster Defence Association (UDA) members. The Barron Report states that Billy Hanna, leader of the UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade, asked Mitchell for permission to use his farm as a UVF arms dump and bomb-making site. Information that loyalist paramilitaries were regularly meeting at the farm appeared on British Intelligence Corps documents from late 1972. Before the Troubles Mitchell had been a member of the B Specials. He joined the RUC Reserve in September 1974, and was stationed at nearby Markethill. He was described as having been a "religious man". Mitchell and his female housekeeper, Lily Shields, both denied knowledge that the farm was used for illicit paramilitary activity. They also denied partaking in any UVF attacks, although Shields later admitted her "involvement in certain events" to the RUC. In an affidavit, John Weir affirmed that the farmhouse was used as a base for UVF operations that included the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. Weir also stated that on one occasion an RUC constable gave him two weapons to store at the Glenanne farm: