William Joseph Quinn
Born	1949 (age 74–75) San Francisco, California, United States
Nationality	American
Other names	Liam Quinn
Criminal status	Released

Allegiance	Provisional Irish Republican Army
Conviction(s)	Murder
Criminal penalty	Life imprisonment (35-year tariff)

William Joseph Quinn, known as Liam Quinn, (born 1949) is an American former volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army who shot dead Stephen Tibble, an off-duty police officer, in London on 26 February 1975.^[1]^[2]

Tibble saw Quinn fleeing from the police after he had been noticed acting suspiciously near a house in which Quinn and members of the Balcombe Street Gang were later found to have been preparing bombs. Tibble chased Quinn on his motorbike and, while attempting to stop him, was fatally shot twice in the chest.^[3]

Extradition

Quinn escaped to Dublin in the aftermath of the shooting and served a short prison sentence after his arrest for assaulting a police officer there. After his release in 1978 he returned to his hometown of San Francisco but was arrested in 1981 and later extradited to England in February 1988 where he was convicted of murder and jailed for life with a recommended minimum term of 35 years.

Quinn served 11 years before he was released in April 1999, aged 51, along with the Balcombe Street Gang, under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.^[4] While with the IRA, Quinn adopted an Irish accent^[5] and was tagged with the nickname "Yankee Joe" because of his American origins.^[6]

References

^ New York Times- American Is Extradited To Britain in Killing
^ Balcombe Street gang moved to Portlaoise Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine
^ "BBC News On This Day - 1975: PC murder linked to IRA bomb factory". 27 February 1975. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
^ A Chronology of the Conflict - 1988
^ "Friends and equals don't need to ask for apologies". Irish Independent. 22 May 2011.
^ The Road To Balcombe Street, Steven Moysey, Haworth (2007), ISBN 0-7890-2913-8

Provisional Irish Republican Army

General

Organisation

Actions

1970–1979	Battle of St Matthew's Falls Curfew 1970 Crossmaglen bombing Scottish soldiers' killings Red Lion bombing Balmoral showroom bombing Abercorn bombing Donegall Street bombing Battle at Springmartin Battle of Lenadoon Bloody Friday Claudy bombing Newry customs bombing Old Bailey bombing Honey Trap killings King's Cross & Euston bombings Coleraine bombings 1973 Westminster bombing M62 bombing Clogher attack Houses of Parliament bombing Tower of London bombing Guildford pub bombings Harrow School bombing Brooks's Club bombing Woolwich pub bombing British Airways bombing attempt Birmingham pub bombings London pillar box bombings Talbot Arms bombing Bristol bombing Telephone exchange bombings 1974 Oxford Street bombing Carlton Tower & Portman Hotel shootings Mountainview attack Bayardo Bar attack Forkhill attack Caterham Arms bombing Tullyvallen massacre London Hilton bombing Piccadilly bombing Trattoria Fiore bombing Scott's Oyster Bar bombing Walton's Restaurant bombing Drummuckavall ambush Balcombe Street siege Kingsmill massacre Cannon Street train bombing West Ham station attack Olympia bombing Store bar shooting Stag Inn attack Garryhinch ambush Jonesborough Gazelle downing La Mon restaurant bombing Crossmaglen ambush Warrenpoint ambush Brussels bombing Dungannon attack
1980–1989	Dunmurry train bombing Lough Foyle attacks Glasdrumman ambush 1981 Bessbrook attack Chelsea Barracks bombing Hyde Park & Regent's Park bombings Harrods bombing Royal Artillery Barracks bombing Brighton hotel bombing Ballygawley land mine attack Newry mortar attack Ballygawley attack Enniskillen mortar attack RUC Birches barracks attack Rheindahlen bombing Loughgall ambush Operation Flavius Corporals killings Lisburn bombing Aughanduff Lynx shootdown 1988 Netherlands attacks Glamorgan barracks bombing Inglis Barracks bombing Ballygawley bus bombing Jonesborough ambush Clive Barracks bombing Deal barracks bombing Mayobridge attack Derryard attack
1990–1991	Derrygorry Gazelle downing South Armagh sniper Downpatrick roadside bomb Operation Conservation Carlton Club bombing 1990 Eltham bombing 1990 Wembley bombing Honourable Artillery Company bombing Lichfield gun attack RFA Fort Victoria bombing Proxy bombings Downing Street mortar attack Paddington & Victoria station bombings Mullacreevie ambush Glenanne barracks bombing Coagh ambush Musgrave Park Hospital bombing Crumlin Road Prison bombing
1992–1997	Teebane bombing Clonoe ambush London Bridge bombing Staples Cnr bombing Baltic Exchange bombing Sussex Arms bombing Cloghoge attack Coalisland riots Forensic Science Laboratory bombing Stoke Newington Road bomb 1992 Manchester bombing Night of the Long Knives 1993 Harrods bombing Warrington bombings Cullaville occupation Camden bombing Bishopsgate bombing Finchley Road bombings Battle of Newry Road Shankill Road bombing 1993 Fivemiletown ambush Heathrow attacks Crossmaglen Lynx downing Drumcree conflict Docklands bombing Aldwych bus bombing 1996 Manchester bombing Hammersmith Bridge bombing Osnabrück mortar attack Thiepval barracks bombing Coalisland attack 1997 Northern Ireland riots

Personalities
(Volunteers)

Espionage and
Supergrasses

Eamon Collins
Denis Donaldson
Joseph Fenton
Kevin Fulton
Raymond Gilmour
Martin McGartland
Sean O'Callaghan
Freddie Scappaticci (allegedly "Stakeknife")

Associates

Derivatives

Prominent
killings