The life and death of Billy Wright

Billy Wright attends a rally called to denounce a death threat against him in Portadown September 1996. Irish Republican gunmen shot dead Wright inside Northern Ireland's top security Maze jail Photograph: Reuters Photograph: /Reuters The inquiry into Wright's death, which has cost £30m, is expected to be highly critical of security around the jail in December 1997 when the loyalist leader was shot dead by two Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) inmates Photograph: Crispin Rodwell/Rex Features Billy Wright was one of Northern Ireland's most feared assassins at the time of his death in 1997 Photograph: Brian Little/PA Paratroopers patrol the perimeter of the Maze Prison following the murder of loyalist Billy Wright, which took place after a firearm was smuggled into the jail Photograph: Reuters The entrance to H-Block 5 at the Maze Prison, near Belfast, Northern Ireland, which was used to house paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles from mid-1971 to mid-2000. Photograph: PA Photograph: PA/PA Members of the Loyalist Volunteer Force form a guard of honour at the coffin of their former leader Billy Wright. Photograph: Crispin Rodwell / Rex Features Photograph: Crispin Rodwell / Rex Features/Rex Features A mural featuring Wright painted on an end terrace in Northern Ireland Photograph: Martin McCullough/ Rex Features Thousands of mourners attended the funeral of murdered Loyalist Volunteer Force leader Billy Wright, in Portadown Photograph: PA INLA gunman Christopher McWilliams emerges from Magilliagan Prison after his release on 20 October 2000. Three republican militants, jailed for killing Billy Wright in the top-security Maze Prison, were set free under Northern Ireland's peace accord Photograph: Reuters