Shame Allan Woods and his fake picture of him dressed in a British Parachute Regiment unifomr
THE Scotch coach driver who insulted the memory of Bishop Edward Daly has been exposed as a faker who invented his successful British military career.
And shame Allan Woods even claimed that he served in Bloody Sunday over 42 years ago when disgraced British Paras opened fire indiscriminately on a civil rights protest murdering a total of 14.
But now it has been revealed that bus driver Woods, 61, from, Renfrewshire in Scotland, who claimed to have been a Para, is a fantasist who has never served in the armed forces at all, let alone the elite Parachute Regiment.
The fraudster has gone to extreme lengths to create the impression online that he had a successful military career.
He superimposed his face on to the photograph of a real decorated soldier in order to convince Facebook friends of his made-up past.
According to the Daily Record, the picture is in fact of retired Para Colour Sergeant John “Tommo” Tompkins, from Wigan.
Tompkins completed four tours in Northern Ireland before he joined 4 PARA (V) in 2003, going on to serve in Iraq in 2006 and Afghanistan in 2008.
He was awarded a number of medals which are displayed on the uniform that Woods tries to pass off as his own.
Woods also uploaded a photograph of four soldiers next to an artillery gun, apparently with the intention of suggesting he is one of the men.
But the picture, taken during the Falklands conflict, hasn’t the remotest connection to Woods.
The pathetic Walter Mitty has now been forced to come clean after the Record pieced together his web of lies and confronted him.
He admitted he doctored a picture of the real Parachute Regiment veteran on social media to bolster his claims that he served in the Paras and was on duty on the day of the massacre.
When confronted, he described his army claims as “a lot of s***e”.
He said: “It was wrong to post all that stuff on Facebook. I used the wrong words. I have lost my job because of all this. I have had about 200 death threats in the last day.
“I know I was wrong. I had an opinion but I put it across the wrong way. Murderers do not go through what I have been through. The stuff I put was a load of s***e.
“I just put that I was in the forces to justify what I was trying to say. I just said I was in the Paras to justify my argument and was trying to give my post credibility.
“I never served in the forces. If you think about it, I would have been far too young to have been there anyway.
“I have suffered enough with all this. I apologise unreservedly for the offence I caused but I know it’s my own stupidity.
Fr Edward Daly waves a white handkerchief as an injured man is carried away on Bloody Sunday
“I had no right to post what I did. I faked up the photograph. I was in a hotel room, bored out of my skull when I did it.”
Despite his grovelling apology, Woods insisted on repeating his slur on Daly, who devoted his life to trying to forge peace in Northern Ireland and was mourned by thousands at his funeral last week.
In his original post, he used a grossly offensive term for Catholics to describe Daly.
Woods now says: “My wife is in a hell of a state over this. I was out of order and I know that but am I going to be crucified for this?”
Woods offered to pay £1,000 to the priest’s family as an apology for any upset he has caused.
He said: “I will give £1,000 to the family. It may not be a lot to some people but it’s a lot to us.
“I was out of order and stupid and this would be a goodwill gesture.”
Until last week, Woods was a bus driver employed on a casual basis through an agency. He was sacked after his online outburst came to the attention of management.
His admission of his lies came after we tried to speak to him at his home and his wife said he was not available.
He then called our office to say his military history had been completely fabricated.
It is not the first time Woods has found himself at the centre of a bigotry row.
The Rangers fan made headlines last year after offering to recruit free workers to spruce up Ibrox.
But it then emerged he had posted on Facebook in 2014 calling for the ethnic cleansing of Muslims. Another post on his page in 2015 called for Islam to be outlawed and made lurid claims linking the religion to rape and paedophilia.
On Bloody Sunday, Daly, then a curate in Derry, was near John “Jackie” Duddy, 17, when he was shot.
He waved his handkerchief to try to keep the teenager safe as he was carried away for treatment.
He then gave him the last rites as he lost his fight for life.
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