Editing Robert Campbell

'''''Note: The majority of the information in this article comes from [https://mcgurksbar.com/behind-the-mask-mcgurks-bar-massacre/ this page].'''''
{{Villain Infobox
|Image = Robert Campbell.jpg
|fullname = Robert James Campbell
|origin = Northern Ireland
|occupation - Terrorist
|goals = Kill Irish nationalists
|crimes = [[Murder]]<br>[[Sectarianism]]<br>[[Terrorism]]
|type of villain = Sectarian Killer}}
{{Quote|Unfortunately, I can do nothing to help all those poor people and all I can say is sorry. Sorry is only a wee word. But it means a whole lot, you know. That’s all I can do for you, boss.|Campbell during [https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/mcgurks-bar-massacre-victim-confronts-killer-28593468.html an interview] with one of the survivors of the attack.}}
'''Robert James "Jimmy" Campbell''' (died 2013) was a Northern Irish terrorist who led the "B Company" unit of the [[Ulster Volunteer Force]], a Loyalist terrorist group active during [[the Troubles]]. He was responsible for multiple [[Sectarianism|sectarian]] attacks against Irish Catholics until 1977, when he was convicted of sixteen counts of [[murder]] and sentenced to life imprisonment (although he ultimately served less than twenty years before his release). Fifteen of the counts he was convicted on were related to the 1971 [[McGurk's Bar bombing]].

==Biography==
Campbell was the leader of the UVF's B Company for an unknown amount of time. The unit was responsible for a number of anti-Catholic murders. These allegedly included 17-year-old Ciarán Murphy, who was shot dead by Loyalist [[Aubrey Tarr]] and three others in 1974, and 31-year-old Willaim Tierney. Ciaran Murphy's nephew Niall Ó Murchú said the killers may have been involved in as many as 100 murders. The unit also included Campbell's son Robert Jr., who the ''Belfast Telegraph'' reported was convicted of multiple sectarian murders, and future [[Shankill Butchers]] member [[Benjamin Edwards]].

Campbell's most well-known attack took place in 1971 in northern Belfast. Prior to the attack, the UVF was not considered a major terror threat due to the low number of recorded attacks. However, on December 4 Campbell and several unidentified members of his unit planted a bomb at the entrance of McGurk's Bar, a Belfast pub that was frequented by Irish Catholics and nationalists. Moments after the attackers drove away, the bomb detonated and killed fifteen people. Among the victims were two children, 14-year-old Maria McGurk (the owner's daughter) and 13-year-old James Cromie. Campbell later claimed that McGurk's was chosen because it was "the nearest Catholic pub". Campbell drove the unit to St. Anne's Cathedral, where another car picked them up. The bombers then met with the unidentified man who ordered the bombing.

In January 1976, Campbell's unit ambushed a vehicle driven by Protestant delivery driver John Morrow in a planned copycat killing of the [[Irish Republican Army]]'s killing of ten Protestant workmen, as five of Morrow's Catholic co-workers were in the car. Although his co-workers escaped, Campbell and others sprayed the car with bullets and fatally shot Morrow.

On July 27, 1977, the Royal Ulster Constabulary arrested Campbell for murder. They had received a tip-off in March 1976 that Campbell was involved in the bombing of McGurk's, but had not acted on the information, leading to claims that they were colluding with the UVF. Campbell was charged with murdering the fifteen people killed in the attack and John Morrow, who other unit members had accused Campbell of killing. He was also charged with seventeen counts of attempted murder for his involvement in the McGurk's bombing. On September 6, 1978, he pleaded guilty to all charges. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, but was released after serving fifteen years.

Several years after his release, ''Belfast Telegraph'' reporter John McGurk, a survivor of the McGurk's bombing, visited Campbell in his north Belfast home. During the interview, Campbell expressed remorse for his role in the UVF's atrocities and apologised, stating that he had asked God for forgiveness and believed that God would forgive him. However, he consistently refused to name the other people involved in the bombing. Campbell also denied RUC collusion in the attack, but admitted he didn't know whether there was collusion. He died in 2013.

== Trivia ==
*The image seen in this page's infobox is the only picture ever taken of Campbell.
[[Category:List]]
[[Category:Terrorists]]
[[Category:Anti-Catholic]]
[[Category:Deceased]]
[[Category:United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Male]]
[[Category:Remorseful]]
[[Category:Imprisoned]]
[[Category:Modern Villains]]
[[Category:Mass Murderers]]
[[Category:Elderly]]
[[Category:From Nobody to Nightmare]]