ALLEGED UVF leader Stephen "Mackers" Matthews has been named in court in connection with a blackmail attempt over a drug debt owed by a businessman’s son.
He was named as Ross Barr appeared at Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Saturday, accused of being one of three men who visited the man to demand he hand over £7,000 which his son owed to the terror gang’s east Belfast unit.
The 30-year-old, from Roslin Gardens in the Tullycarnet area of east Belfast, faces a single count over an incident at the premises of the man’s firm on October 16.
Objecting to Barr being freed on bail, a prosecution barrister told the court the alleged victim noticed a white Hyundai car belonging to Barr had parked at his business at around 1pm.
He said there were three men in the car. Of the two who got out, he identified one as UVF man James Reid, whom he recognised from press reports.
The man said Reid told him his son owed him money from drug dealing, made up of a £5,000 debt and a £2,000 “fine”.
He said Reid told him he was sent to collect the money by the “Newtownards Road”, and if he wanted he could check with “Mackers”.
The prosecution barrister said this was a reference to Stephen Matthews, the reported leader of the East Belfast UVF.
He said Reid told him his son had been buying cocaine in “quarters and ounces” from him but, when asked, he said he wasn’t dealing for the East Belfast UVF but “free-wheeling”.
It’s alleged Reid told the man he didn’t want the UVF to come up to his business, to which the man replied that it wasn’t going to happen as it “wouldn’t end well”.
Reid is then alleged to have said to the man he would “take his f*****g head off”.
The lawyer said this was followed up by two phone calls from Reid later that day in which he was threatened.
He said it was Barr who owned the car in which the men arrived, and there were numerous phone records linking Reid to Barr that day, but Barr’s own phone is still missing.
A search of Barr’s home found £10,000 in cash, which he claimed belonged to his parents, with whom he lives, and that it came from an inheritance and was due to pay for a new kitchen.
Barr’s solicitor told the court he voluntarily attended an interview last week.
In a statement Barr claimed that on the day in question an individual asked him to go to a location so he could pay money owed to him.
He said this man then asked him to drive to the alleged victim’s business where Barr did not leave the car and was unaware of what was being said to the business owner.
Barr’s solicitor said if his client knew any criminal activity was due to take place, he would not have driven the men there.
Arguing that Barr, a father-of-two, should be freed on bail, he said it was clear that Reid was the “main player” in the incident and there had been no contact between the pair since.
Refusing bail, District Judge Amanda Henderson said it was a “very sinister incident” which had been “very threatening”.
Barr is due to appear in court again via videolink on November 14.