Michael Stone (loyalist) - Red Hand Commando

Red Hand Commando

Following Herron's death, Stone withdrew from the UDA and in January 1974 attached himself to the Red Hand Commando (RHC), a group that also operated a Braniel unit under Sammy Cinnamond. According to Stone, one of his earliest duties was acting as a bodyguard to Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party leader Bill Craig. In 1978 the UDA encouraged Stone to join the Royal Irish Regiment at Ballymena in order that he could receive training with anti-tank weaponry although he did not receive this training and left after six months. According to Martin Dillon, Stone also held membership of Tara, a anti-Catholic and anti-communist organisation led by William McGrath, a close associate of RHC leader John McKeague. Dillon also argues that Stone had actually joined the RHC at an earlier date and indeed held simultaneous membership of that group, Tara and the UDA, something that was not unheard of in the early days of the UDA.

Stone became close to John Bingham, the commander of the Ballysillan Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), to which the RHC was very close, and the two worked closely on a fund-raising drive for their groups. According to Stone this included a meeting with two members of Mossad who wished to provide funding to the UVF. Stone however was eager to become more closely involved in killing and under Cinnamond that was not on the agenda so he drifted from the RHC.