Call for calm over loyalist fugitives

Adair's associates fled Belfast's Shankill area

People should not "over-react" to the presence of family and associates of jailed loyalist leader Johnny Adair in Scotland, according to First Minister Jack McConnell.

Mr McConnell was asked by MSPs in the Scottish Parliament how police were coping with the arrival of a band of Adair's supporters after they were run out of Northern Ireland last week.

Adair's wife Gina, her children and a number of others supporters are staying in unidentified locations after they were forced to abandon their homes in the lower Shankill area of Belfast.

The move came in the aftermath of the shooting dead of Ulster Defence Association boss John Gregg, Adair's fiercest rival in a vicious feud.

Johnny Adair: Vicious feud

Adair is being held at Maghaberry prison near Lisburn in County Antrim.

His associates have been blamed for the Gregg murder.

Mr McConnell told parliament that "the full force of our current laws" would come down on anyone involved in crime "wherever they come from".

He also appealed for calm among the general population should they encounter any of Adair's associates.

He said: "It would be very easy to react to the presence in Scotland of people who are associated with criminal activity or sectarian violence or terrorism in Northern Ireland.

"I hope that people in Scotland will not over-react to this situation but will support the police force in doing their job."

Extra vigilant

The first minister also said he was determined to stamp out sectarianism in Scotland and re-affirmed his belief that new laws targeting religious hatred would help achieve that goal.

Glasgow Tory MSP Bill Aitken said those who had arrived in this country from Northern Ireland had "attitudes which are alien to the vast majority of Scots".

"It is essential that people do not over-react to any provocation that the presence of such people may present," he added.

Mike Russell, a Scottish National Party regional MSP for the South of Scotland, said he was concerned about the alleged links between Adair's supporters and the drugs trade.

He said: "Will the First Minister give me an assurance that the police will be extra vigilant on this matter and ensure that any money coming in to Scotland is not to finance drug dealing and the death of our young people."