Loyalist sources last night (Wednesday) blamed Jim Gray's 'champagne' lifestyle for his downfall from the UDA. Gray (43) was seen as the most flamboyant paramilitary leader of the Troubles, with bleached blonde hair, tanned complexion and penchant for gold jewellry and pastel-coloured clothing.
His appearance quickly earned him the nickname 'Doris Day'.
Gray is believed to have taken control of the Ulster Defence Association in east Belfast in the mid-1990s after its then leader became a recluse due to alcoholism.
While other paramilitary leaders shied away from the media spotlight, Gray's garish appearance meant he was easily recognisable among the loyalist hard men.
In May 1998 he was at the shoulder of Milltown killer Michael Stone when he was given temporary release from the Maze prison to attend a loyalist rally at the Ulster Hall.
When Stone was finally released under the Good Friday Agreement in July 2000, the sunglasses-wearing Gray was again at his side.
In December that year, Stone and Gray caused uproar when they were photographed with then Glasgow Rangers footballers Tore Andre Flo and Ronald de Boer.
But the relationship between the two loyalists soon soured, with Stone effectively being ostracised in his native east Belfast.
Murals that had portrayed Stone as a loyalist icon were removed from gable walls in the area overnight.
Stone later claimed he was leaving Northern Ireland because of loyalist threats.
Unlike Stone, Gray is not thought to have served any jail sentence for paramilitary offences.
For more than a decade his power base was centred around a UDA gang known as the 'Young Newtons', based in two bars owned by Gray on east Belfast's Newtownards Road.
In March 2002, Gray's 19-year-old son Jonathan was found dead after a suspected drug overdose while on holiday in Thailand with his father and friends.
In July of that year he was one of a number of UDA leaders who met then Secretary of State John Reid in an east Belfast mission hall.
Gray's closest associate, William 'Murph' Murphy, is also believed to have been stood down by the UDA's ruling inner council this week.
The fact that Murphy looked like and dressed almost identically to Gray fuelled constant rumours within loyalism of a relationship between the pair.
When Murphy appeared in court in November 2002 to face charges over the murder of east Belfast man Arthur Berryman, Gray stood up in the public gallery and saluted his associate as he was being taken away.
The charges against Murphy were later dropped after a state witness withdrew statements implicating him in the murder.
Despite Gray being present with other UDA leaders when Johnny Adair was released from Maghaberry jail in Co Antrim in May 2002, he was already aware that the Shankill loyalist was plotting to overthrow his east Belfast kingdom.
In September of that year Gray was shot in the head by a loyalist gunman in what was said to have been a revenge attack for the murder of LVF leader Stephen Warnock.
Gray was shot in the mouth but was able to run to a nearby police station at Garnerville in east Belfast.
It later emerged that Adair had been in the Warnock household at the time of the attack.
A month later Gray was arrested at a Chinese restaurant in east Belfast after explosives were found at a bar he owned.
He later received £1,500 in damages after an out of court settlement for alleged PSNI assault.
In February 2003, Gray is believed to have been the intended target of a gun attack in east Belfast at the same time as supporters of Johnny Adair gunned down south-east Antrim UDA leader John Gregg as he left Belfast docks.
While Gray's high-profile lifestyle was said to have been a constant irritation to other UDA leaders, the threat from Adair was seen as a more urgent issue for the organisation to deal with.
However, when senior UDA leaders met current Secretary of State Paul Murphy at Stormont in November last year, Gray was noticeably absent from the delegation.
Loyalist sources last night claimed that the decision to oust him this week was taken in the belief that his lifestyle will soon be investigated by the Assets Recovery Agency.
While he is known to have a number of business interests, it is understood he recently sold the Avenue One bar in east Belfast.
Another bar owned by Gray, the Bunch of Grapes, was badly damaged by a fire in 2001.
It was speculated that murdered loyalist George Legg, whose mutilated body was found on the outskirts of Belfast in 2001, had earlier been tortured at the east Belfast bar.
A £60,000 claim for damages was refused when the insurance company refused to accept the pub had been damaged in the circumstances claimed.
The insurers claimed Gray had "failed to disclose that he was connected with an unlawful organisation, the UDA, being at all material times a member of the UDA and/or the officer commanding the UDA in east Belfast".
One senior UDA figure last night said: "He became too much of an embarrassment and had to go.
"The inner council gave him the choice of either winding down his involvement in criminal activity or leaving the organisation.
"In the end they made the choice for him.
"The UDA is trying to clean its act up and 'Doris' just doesn't fit the new image.
"The question now is who will be next to go."
