Verner had turned up for a ‘fair dig’ with infamous UVF-hating thug ‘Hammy’ who the terror group have shot an incredible FIFTEEN times
Convicted rapist Gerry 'Vermin' Verner outside his east Belfast apartment
Friday 9th September, 2022.
Cops fear a feud involving East Belfast UVF could explode after heavily armed factions clashed in a public park last week.
Sources who witnessed the daylight stand-off near a kids’ play park say several guns were pulled before an arranged fist-fight got underway.
And we can reveal tensions have been simmering for almost a year and involves convicted rapist Gerry ‘Vermin’ Verner and UVF-hating thug James ‘Hammy’ Hamilton.
We can reveal notorious rapist Verner scarpered and left his mates to a beating after challenging UVF scourge ‘Hammy’ last Sunday, according to sources.
The evil rapist had turned up for a ‘fair dig’ with infamous UVF-hating thug ‘Hammy’ who the terror group have shot an incredible FIFTEEN times in a three botched murder bids in the last decade.
But sex beast Verner – who assaulted multiple women, threatening to chop the fingers off one – did a runner, with an eyewitness claiming he ran faster than Usain Bolt!
James 'Hammy' Hamilton
“Vermin Verner did one faster than Usain Bolt when he realised he was going to get battered,” said an eyewitness at the shocking incident in Tommy Patton Millennium Park on the Holywood Road.
“Hammy had the backing of loyalists from all over the country and many of them had come armed. When Verner saw the guns he sh*t himself and ran off.
“The guns were put away and the fight started with three men trying and failing to get the better of Hammy.
“But the cowardly rapist left his mates behind and they took a bad beating for him. Hammy Hamilton tore into them and when he was smacking one of them on the ground you could hear him shouting at him, ‘What are you doing here protecting a sick rapist who has f***ed off and left you for dead?’”
WAR OF WORDS: A message from James 'Hammy' Hamilton
A social media feud has been ongoing for months. As reported here in March, Gerald Verner had his car destroyed in an arson attack outside his Inverary Avenue flat.
It’s not the first time the UDA have been gunning for Verner – after serving seven years of a ten-year sentence behind bars for rape, Vermin Verner was released in 2018 but told not to return to north Belfast by the UDA.
A reply from Gerry 'Vermin' Verner
We can also reveal Hammy, who has a lengthy criminal record including for violence and drug dealing, confronted leading east Belfast loyalist David ‘Dee’ McConnell in a separate incident last week.
ON THE LEFT: UVF boss Stephen 'Mackers' Matthews at a recent UVF march
But it was the explosion of violence last Sunday in a popular children’s park that has police extremely concerned about the potential for more violence.
On Monday the PSNI launched an appeal after one of Verner’s pals required hospital treatment having suffered head injuries which were caused by him being hit with a firearm, according to police.
Now security sources fear a simmering feud between Hamilton and Verner could see East Belfast UVF and the UDA go head to head.
Convicted rapist Gerry Verner
We can reveal Hamilton battered pals of Verner’s after Verner turned on his heels last Sunday night.
One of his mates was beaten over the head with a gun – brought to the arranged fight by members of the gang who were there to make sure Hammy wasn’t assassinated by East Belfast UVF.
Last night a source who witnessed the shocking daylight violence told the Sunday World: “Someone is going to be killed, it’s turned very nasty.
“Hammy and Verner have been going at each other on social media for months threatening each other with Hammy doing it from his own Instagram account and Verner hiding behind a fake account.
“Hammy grew up in the estate beside the park though he lives in Holywood now. He hates the fact East Belfast UVF have been protecting a rapist like Verner.”
Verner – known as ‘Vermin’ because of his sick sex attacks on women – was put out of north Belfast by the UDA because of his crimes.
Verner’s car was burned out in March
But while in prison he struck up a relationship with a leading loyalist who helped set him up in a flat beside his own in Inverary Avenue in the Sydenham area of the city.
The UVF guaranteed Verner’s protection when he got out of prison earlier this year – having been returned to serve out his sex sentence because he’d breached regulations by mixing with drug dealers when he was released for the first time.
Verner was jailed for a minimum of seven years in 2012 for raping, falsely imprisoning, beating up and threatening to kill his 19-year-old victim.
Verner (33) subjected the teenager to a terrifying “10 minutes of honesty” interrogation during which he threatened to cut off a finger for every lie she told.
It was after this that the predator raped his victim, who was the fourth woman he had violently assaulted.
We can reveal a social media feud has been going on since before last Christmas.
Using a fake Instagram account, Verner and his East Belfast UVF goons issued a number of threats to Hamilton.
This was after Hammy contacted Gerry Verner and told his to stay away from someone close to him who Verner was giving a hard time to.
Through social media Hammy was warned: “Ye fu*in goat now u dnt wana squad cumin from Scotland Over 2 do u.”
And followed up with: “Yye fu*in goat try it wiv him 1 mre time” and “watcher bck goat”. They then threatened to send a full team of UVF to his door to do him in, warning him to “sleep wiv your eyes open”.
James 'Hammy' Hamilton
But Hammy invited Verner to come to his house to sort the issue out, telling them he’d leave the front door open – and even posted his home address to anyone who wanted to back Verner up.
Last week Verner went to the park with a gang but hadn’t reckoned on Hammy being backed up by another gang of tooled-up loyalists.
“Hammy offered him a fair dig and went to the park but nobody thought Verner would turn up. Hammy is a complete psychopath, a proper hardman who has never been beaten in a fight.
“Hammy knew if Verner did turn up he was likely to turn up with a squad and possibly with a weapon so he rallied his own troops – some from East Belfast UDA but also loyalists from other areas.
“They were waiting in the bushes just in case something kicked off and they were armed with guns and some had hammers. Sure enough the rapist brought a team and they started running at Hammy but when they saw Hammy had brought back-up and they were armed Verner turned and sprinted away.
“When the guns were put away Verner still refused to come back and left his mates to get a hiding.”
The Sunday World understands Hammy has since received a death threat.
But friends close to Hammy told us: “Hammy is well protected by a number of criminal gangs and the East Belfast UVF have been told if they touch a hair on his head there would be serious repercussions.
“Hammy knows a lot of very dangerous people – the kind of people who you don’t want to cross.”
On Monday Detective Sergeant Dougherty said: “Police received a report of an assault shortly after 8.45pm, Sunday 28th August.
“Officers located a male, aged in his 40s, with a number of head injuries. He was taken to hospital for treatment to his injuries.
“It was reported that a number of perpetrators hit him over the head with an object. We believe at this time the object was a firearm.”
The UVF have tried repeatedly to murder James Hammy Hamilton who have always blamed him for the attempted murder of Stephen Matthews at his home in 2012. Matthews denies any link to criminality,
The UVF even blew up part of his dad’s house in east Belfast with a blast bomb while Hammy was living there using powergel explosive which the UVF were supposed to have decommissioned.
With many thanks to the: Sunday World and Stephen Moore EXCLUSIVE for the original publication.
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