Shops sell keyring tributes to killer who stood side-by-side with ‘Coolock Says No’ protesters

Sources say Glen ‘Killer’ Kane, who was scooped by PSNI officers after attending a race-hate rally, is worshipped by a small band of locals in Belfast’s Shankill area despite – or maybe because —– of his sick past.

Kane was jailed for nine years in 1992 for his part in kicking a Catholic to death and, although UDA sources are adamant he never joined the terror group, over the decades he’s been like a ‘groupie’ to the most feared loyalist paramilitary leaders.

Kane hit the headlines last month when he was spotted at an anti-immigrant rally in Belfast city centre.

The rally was also attended by a number of members of the ‘Coolock Says No’ group who travelled from Dublin for the event.

It has been reported that the Dubliners were also seen drinking with known UDA members at a loyalist bar after attending the anti-immigration rally.

Taoiseach Simon Harris has condemned those who “hijacked” the Irish flag to march alongside “paramilitary actors” in Belfast, and urged them to “leave our flag alone”.

Two weeks ago, a crowd of supporters gathered around Kane’s home as a posse of police officers arrived to arrest him.

In his Shankill Road heartland – where he is known by the nickname ‘Mr X’ – he has been treated as a local hero.

And we can today reveal that local shops are now cashing in on Kane’s new fame by selling mini Mr X key rings at £2 a pop.

The two-inch caricature figures show ‘Mr X’ dressed in a black suit, white shirt and red tie and wearing his trademark mirrored sunglasses.

One shopkeeper told us: “They have been flying out the door ever since Glen appeared in the news over the demos.”

But when the Sunday World caught up with Kane at his Riga Street home this week, we discovered that ‘Mr X’ had reverted to ‘Mr Nasty’.

Our reporter greeted Kane on his doorstep with pleasant: “Hello Mr X. Can I have a quick word?”

But after taking a few seconds to weigh up the situation, the veteran loyalist barked back: “F**k off – I’ve nothing to say.”

Kane – wearing his usual royal blue Ulster Rugby top – slammed the door shut, causing two reinforced glass panels to rattle in their frames.

According to friends, Kane (58) adopted his nickname as a teenager after learning his hero, cut-throat killer Lenny Murphy, was dubbed Mr X during the notorious Shankill Butchers murder trial.

At the time, it was a legal requirement because Murphy wasn’t one of the accused men standing in the dock.

When the case concluded in February 1979, 11 members of Murphy’s UVF murder gang were convicted of 19 murders. And creating a legal record, Judge Turlough O’Donnell handed them 42 life sentences.

But master butcher Lenny Murphy had successfully managed to evade justice, although he was shot dead by the IRA three years later.

Friends who knew Glen Kane as a teenager say he became obsessed with the infamous Shankill Butchers boss.

Kane’s recent celebrity status on the Shankill reached fever pitch two weeks ago when heavily armed cops scooped him outside his Riga Street home.

Neighbours and friends cheered and clapped as burly PSNI officers led the handcuffed ‘Mr X’ to a waiting police Land Rover.

Police had suspected Kane and others were orchestrating race riots and spreading misinformation on the internet, which may have influenced attacks on immigrant homes, businesses and religious buildings.

And after quizzing Kane for two days, they placed him before Belfast Magistrates Court, where he was charged with ‘possession of threatening, abusive or insulting written material, for distribution with intent to stir up hatred’.

The court heard how, during a search of Kane’s home, police found a UVF flag, badges and a picture, a UFF snood, two Britain First hats, a key tag and a British National Party video.

Police also seized 100 copies of a booklet which claimed to be concerned with the ‘immigration crises’.

Kane conceded he had attended a demonstration in Belfast city centre, but said he “only went for a look” and took no part in the rioting which followed.

But the Shankill Road man appeared to enjoy his brief court experience last week.

Judge Michael Ranaghan twice warned him to desist from smiling during the proceedings, before granting him bail with extremely strict conditions imposed.

In 1993, Kane was part of a loyalist gang which battered 35-year-old Catholic man Patrick Abrams to death near North Howard Street army barracks.

Kane received a nine-year sentence when he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and riotous behaviour.

And it is believed it was Kane’s time in jail – where he met and mixed with hardened loyalist terrorist leaders – which influenced his future political outlook.

“Glen Kane is a true loyalist. He’s studied the history of loyalism, but he’s also studied the IRA,” claimed a former prisoner who served time alongside him in the early Nineties.

In 1994, Kane earned his loyalist wings when he took part in a rooftop protest inside Crumlin Road Prison.

He and 100 others managed to gain access to the prison roof and they hurled slates and other debris at staff below in the yard.

Kane was pictured on the roof standing next to UFF boss Johnny ‘Mad Dog’ Adair and Red Hand Commando killer Frankie Curry, later murdered by the UVF.

The dispute arose over the enforced integration of prisoners. Two years before, the IRA had killed a loyalist prisoner by planting a bomb in the canteen area. And loyalists replied firing an RPG rocket at a block which housed IRA prisoners.

“During that period, Kane was close to Frankie Curry and Johnny Adair. The truth is he idolised Johnny and he hung on his every word,” said an ex-prisoner.

The Sunday World has learned that around the same time, Kane also struck up a close prison friendship with fellow Shankill Road man Bobby Moffet, later shot dead by the UVF in 2010.

He was also pictured enjoying a trip around Belfast’s Victoria Centre with his close friend and advisor Clifford Peeples.

Known in loyalist circles as ‘the Pipe Bomb Pastor’, Peeples was also arrested in the wake of the Belfast street violence. He was released on police bail pending further inquiries.