Former UDA leader Johnny Adair, due for release from prison shortly, remains under a death threat from his former colleagues and will not be safe whether he stays in Northern Ireland or moves abroad, according to loyalist sources.
The overall UDA, which imposed the death sentence on Adair because he allegedly ordered the murder of south-east Antrim UDA chief John Gregg two years ago, believes Adair will be unable to reform the Lower Shankill Road paramilitary base that sustained him in loyalist power for many years.
"There will be some individuals heavily involved in crime who might be prepared to support him but they are nothing but a network of scallywags. Johnny doesn't have a power base any more and I think he must have got that message by now," said a senior loyalist. "And anyone who would want to support him would want to think long and hard because they know they would then be under serious threat."
Adair, who takes pleasure in the nickname "Mad Dog", this month will have completed the maximum two-thirds of a 16-year sentence imposed in 1995 and therefore must be released. The release date could come as early as this week or next, sources said yesterday.
Adair is serving his latest sentence in Maghaberry Prison, near Lisburn, but there is speculation that to protect him from loyalist attack in the North he could be removed to another prison in Britain where he would be formally released.
The North's prison service confirmed that Adair remained in Maghaberry yesterday but would not say when he would be released or whether he would first be spirited to Britain to ensure his safety on release.
Loyalist sources said Adair would seek to create mischief by trying to plant stories in the press or spread rumours that could cause divisions within the wider UDA organisation.
They said he would be signing his death warrant if he remained in the North but that even if he went to Britain UDA figures would try to kill him there to avenge Gregg's murder. Gregg was shot dead in Belfast docks as he was returning from a Glasgow Rangers game. His killing was part of a vicious struggle between Adair's Lower Shankill C-Company and the overall UDA.
"No matter where Johnny goes he will have to watch his back, his front, his sides, his top and his tail," said one senior loyalist.
It is likely that on release Adair will meet up with his wife Gina, who is being treated for cancer, and his family in Bolton and possibly former colleagues such as John White who had to flee the North after Gregg's murder.
The North's Assets Recovery Agency may also monitor his movements to see if he tries to access the money he reputedly made from loyalist criminal activity.
