Adair refused appeal funding

Johnny Adair is in Maghaberry Prison, Northern Ireland

The jailed loyalist paramilitary leader Johnny Adair has been turned down for legal aid to fund an appeal against his return to prison, it has been learned.

The decision had been withheld until there was confirmation of ownership of £70,000 in cash that Adair's wife was carrying when she fled Northern Ireland earlier this year during a loyalist feud.

Adair's lawyer, Frank O'Donoghue, QC, told the High Court in Belfast on Wednesday that a funding decision had been made on Tuesday but did not disclose what it was.

The Legal Services Commission said they did not comment on individual applications for legal aid.

However, sources confirmed that the Legal Aid Assessment Office had recommended to the Legal Services Commission that funding be refused.

At the last High Court hearing, Mr Justice Kerr was told that Gina Adair had claimed the £70,000 belonged to John White, a close associate of her husband.

She said in a statement that she was packing in a hurry before a crowd arrived and Mr White handed her a shoe box which was put into her car.

Gina Adair - said £70,000 cash was not hers

"He did not tell me what was in the box and I did not think to ask him," she said.

"I was more concerned for my family and myself to escape to safety."

Mr O'Donoghue said that in the light of the legal aid decision he had arranged a consultation with his client.

He asked for an adjournment, adding: "It might resolve all matters."

Barrister Turlough Montague, for the assessment office, did not object and Mr Justice Kerr adjourned the hearing for a week.

Since leaving Northern Ireland, Mrs Adair has been living in the Greater Manchester area.