 In his absence he lost control of the Red Hand Commando, which became an integral part of the UVF.UVF leader Gusty Spence however contended that he had secured McKeague's agreement that the running of the Red Hand Commando should be taken over by the UVF not long after McKeague established the movement.According to British military intelligence and police files McKeague was believed to have been behind the sadistic murder of a ten-year-old boy, Brian McDermott, in South Belfast in September 1973.