The wife of the jailed paramilitary leader Johnny Adair went to court in Manchester yesterday to demand the right to a council house.
Ms Gina Adair fled Northern Ireland with a small group of her husband's supporters after they were driven out of the Lower Shankill, Belfast, by a rival loyalist faction. They travelled to Scotland and later moved to the Horwich area of Bolton, Greater Manchester, where she began renting a private house. Ms Adair applied to Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council for a home in March but was turned down. Her appeal was also rejected.
Yesterday the court was told that the council had rejected her application on the basis that she was "voluntarily homeless". The violence, or threat of violence, which had caused her to leave Belfast had been brought upon herself through her family's involvement in terrorist activities or serious crime, said the council. But Ms Adair's lawyer said the council had not made proper inquiries to determine whether she was in any way involved with crime or anti-social behaviour. She claimed she had received death threats. Ms Adair, who is being supported in her case by the charity Shelter, was not in court.
Judge Richard Holman reserved judgment in the case until September 30th. - (PA)