Who shot him is not yet known. But the most obvious suspects are the UVF, Gerry Moriarty reports
Mark Haddock knew he was a marked man. Whether it was former colleagues in the UVF, other loyalist paramilitaries, victims or relatives of victims he had allegedly attacked, or even from some in the nether regions of the intelligence world, there were many who would be happy to see him permanently silenced.
He was shot eight times in Newtownabbey, north Belfast, before 4pm yesterday afternoon and is fighting for his life in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.
It's an odd feature of the dangerous paramilitary world that people like Haddock in vulnerable positions seem to see themselves as somehow invincible. Such was the case with Denis Donaldson, the former Sinn Féin administrator at Stormont who was exposed as a British agent. He chose to live near Glenties in Co Donegal despite knowing the sentence regularly meted out to informers and common sense telling him he should leave the country. And that's where he was gunned down, possibly by former colleagues.
Haddock has been on trial for attempted murder. He could have been housed in a secure block of Maghaberry Prison on remand during the trial, yet he successfully challenged attempts to keep him in jail. So, he chose to live on and off near Newtownabbey, where he was shot yesterday, unheeding or uncaring of the dangers to his life that he had been warned about.
Who shot him is not yet known. But the most obvious suspects are the UVF. He was an allegedly ruthless UVF commander in the Mount Vernon area of north Belfast, yet also operated as a Special Branch informer, according to senior former RUC crime detective Johnston Brown - the policeman who identified Ken Barrett as solicitor Pat Finucane's killer and the officer who put Johnny Adair behind bars for directing terrorism.
There will be major political implications if the UVF was responsible.
Ulster Unionist Party leader Reg Empey has brought David Ervine, leader of the Progressive Unionist Party, which is linked to the UVF, under the UUP Assembly umbrella.
If the UVF is behind this attack then it will have been a disastrous gamble for Sir Reg. It will undermine his leadership.
Haddock was previously questioned but not charged in connection with the 1997 murder of Raymond McCord junior by the UVF, beaten to death in a north Belfast quarry after his killer's gun jammed.
His father, Raymond McCord, has long battled to have his killers exposed and to highlight what he says is cast-iron evidence that members of the old RUC Special Branch colluded with the people who murdered his son. He has even brought his case, and won a respected reception from Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.
Mr Johnston Brown supports Mr McCord's allegation that elements of the RUC Special Branch protected UVF people involved in his son's murder. He and others further claim that some in the RUC Special Branch protected one particular informer even though they knew he was implicated in up to a dozen murders. Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan has been investigating the circumstances of Raymond McCord junior's murder. Her report is due out in the next month or so.
Senior well-connected sources have told The Irish Times that in terms of exposing RUC wrongdoing and incompetence it will be "even more explosive than her report into how the RUC handled the Omagh bomb investigation".
Haddock is expected to feature prominently in the report.