Robert Seymour

Robert Seymour (c. 1955 – 15 June 1988) was a Northern Irish loyalist from Belfast who was a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). He served as the paramilitary organisation's East Belfast commander before being shot dead by the Provisional IRA behind his video shop in that part of the city in June 1988. His killing was claimed to be in retaliation for a UVF gun attack on a nationalist pub in which three Catholics died.

In 1983, Seymour was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1981 murder of leading IRA member James "Skipper" Burns. Seymour cycled to Burns' home in Rodney Parade, off the Donegall Road, and shot him as he lay sleeping beside his girlfriend. Seymour's conviction was overturned in the Appeal Court after the judge found the testimony of supergrass Joe Bennett "unbelievable".

Until 2011, Seymour's image featured on a large mural painted on a gable in Ballymacarrett Road, East Belfast.

Ulster Volunteer Force Robert Seymour was born around 1955. He was raised in a Protestant family in staunchly Ulster loyalist East Belfast. On an unknown date he joined the illegal UVF. He rose in the ranks of its Belfast Brigade, acquiring a reputation as a hitman, and eventually he became the East Belfast commander. Never having married, Seymour was described by journalists Jim Cusack and Henry McDonald as having been a "quiet single man". He was known by the nicknames of "Squeak" and "Bobby Blood". However, their convictions were overturned in the Appeal Court after the judge found Bennett's testimony to have been "unbelievable".

Seymour was later arrested and imprisoned for arms offences. He was released in 1987.

alt="Man wearing jeans and a dark top over bare arms lying on his right on the ground, with a trickle of blood visible"

The IRA claimed his killing was in retaliation for the shooting of an Irish nationalist pub in which three Catholics died.

At his funeral oration, Seymour was described as an "exemplary Volunteer".

The UVF retaliated the following month by fatally shooting IRA volunteer Brendan "Ruby" Davison at his home in the Markets area of South Belfast on 25 July 1988 after receiving intelligence which revealed he had been Seymour's assassin. The UVF gunmen were wearing stolen Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) uniforms when they carried out the attack.

Until 2011, Seymour's image featured alongside three other UVF members on an oversized gable mural. The mural stood for over 10 years at the junction of Ballymacarrett Road and Frazer Pass in east Belfast before being painted over. Seymour also features on the mural which replaced the original. In Frazer Pass there is a memorial plaque set inside a railed enclosure dedicated to Seymour, and he is also commemorated in loyalist ballads and videos.