Danny Butler, the Belfast man who claims his life will be in danger if he is extradited to Northern Ireland, is almost certainly not exaggerating. His claim that his life is in danger because of his political beliefs, however, is seen by people who know him as only partly correct. The main threat to his life comes from former associates - criminals with now distant paramilitary links.
The Butlers are Catholics from the Grosvenor Road area of west Belfast, many of whose friends were associated with the INLA. The threats are said by sources in Belfast to be real. It is understood they date back to the disintegration of the INLA and the drift of several of its members into the drugs trade. During its break-up, members began killing each other and formed smaller groups for protection. One of these was the Irish People's Liberation Organisation. In 1991 and 1992 the IPLO members began killing each other in yet another bloody internal feud. The IPLO leader, Jimmy Brown, was shot dead in August 1992 at the end of the feuding. It is from about this time that the threat against Butler originated.