Police warn Adair over move

Johnny Adair is due for release from Maghaberry Prison

A senior police officer in Greater Manchester has warned loyalist paramilitary Johnny Adair that criminal behaviour will not be tolerated.

Chief Superintendent Dave Lea was speaking after reports that Adair will be moving to Bolton after his release from prison next week.

Adair's wife Gina fled to the town after a loyalist feud two years ago.

Ch Supt Lea said his force would act "robustly" to deal with any criminal or anti-social behaviour.

'Criminal justice'

He said his officers had a "practised strategy" for dealing with people released from long criminal sentences.

Ch Supt Lea said: "Bolton is a very diverse community.

"We welcome people into this community provided they wish to come here and have a law-abiding life.

"If they choose to engage in criminal activity or anti-social behaviour then we will bring the full force of criminal justice to bear."

Adair is due for release from prison this month after serving two-thirds of a 16 year sentence for directing terrorism by the Ulster Freedom Fighters.

Gina Adair fled to Bolton after loyalist feuds

The exact date of his release is being kept secret but he is expected to leave Maghaberry Jail next week.

It will be the third time Adair has been released since his conviction in 1995.

He was previously returned to prison for breaching licence conditions in August 2000 after being released from prison under the terms of the Agreement a year earlier.

On 15 May, 2002, he was released having reached the 50% point of his sentence.

Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy ordered Adair to be sent back to prison in January 2003 at the height of a vicious power-struggle between his C Company faction and the rest of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA).

Forced to flee

Days later John Gregg, a member of the UDA inner council, was shot dead near Belfast docks as he returned from a Glasgow Rangers football match.

Members of Adair's brigade blamed for the killing were later routed and forced to flee their Shankill Road powerbase.

They took a ferry out of Northern Ireland and later travelled from Scotland to Bolton, where Gina Adair, who has been treated for cancer, is now living.

The family's attempts to remain anonymous were disrupted when Adair's teenage son Jonathan was sentenced last year for drug offences.